


Trust in Us

by jaughy



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Akumatized Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Salt, Bad Parent Gabriel Agreste, Depressed Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, F/M, Family Issues, Identity Reveal, Implied Sexual Content, Lila Rossi Bashing, Lila salt, Not Beta Read, Trauma, Trust Issues, what season 3 finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:47:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 48,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23361190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaughy/pseuds/jaughy
Summary: All Marinette wanted to do was be Ladybug again. Ever since the defeat of Gabriel Agreste, she had transformed less and saw even less of her partner, Cat Noir. She could only imagine the hardship her kitty was going through...Guardians were supposed to handle things by themselves, right?Rated due to implied themes and mild cursing.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 86
Kudos: 391





	1. All That Glitters...

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Marinette groaned in her sleep as her alarm went off. She was still too far gone in her dream of a dark Parisian sky and swinging by buildings on her yo-yo. This was how she was in her element, the hero the city both needed and respected. As she swung by the doors and windows of nearby buildings, she thought of the civilians resting peacefully inside. The familiar zip and click of her weapon sounded even in her mind.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The teenager stirred once more. She had some semblance that she needed to get up and get ready for school. There was something she had to do, things to plan, but she couldn't quite remember what they were right then. Her brain was still muddled from lack of sleep, drifting in and out of consciousness. Ah well, the tug of sleep and just the thought of school and what was waiting for her there was enough to send her back into Dreamland.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Marinette was Ladybug again, swinging through the city and fighting evil. No one could stop her or her partner, Cat Noir. Not a single soul would dare stand between her and their city. She was a hero, useful again. She was-

"Marinette, you're going to be late!" She could feel her kwami, Tiki, push against her cheek. With a start, her eyes flew open and she noticed the time. There were five minutes before school officially started.

Crapcrapcrapcrap!

The teen sprang from bed and quickly changed clothes. She threw on her usual attire and ran down the stairs, tripping along the way. She gave herself a quick glance down, not noticing any visible bumps or bruises. With a quick kiss to her mom and dad and a to-go bag of breakfast, she was out the door.

Despite living a whole two minutes from school, Marinette only barely managed to make it on time, walking in class just as the bell rang. Mme. Bustier just smiled at her and said to take her seat. Without a word, she began to walk up the steps towards her chair in the back, only to trip halfway up.

“Pfft-”

“Nice going Marinette.”

“Typical as always.”

She got a few snickers and amused looks. One part of her thought that maybe her classmates were only trying to cheer or up, not mock her. That the joking was just the class being good-natured about her general clumsiness, to cheer her up. She could almost pretend that Lila wasn’t the one who started it.

Standing, the blunette composed herself to take her seat. Everyone went silent as the lesson began, not paying the girl much more mind. She pulled out her notebook and the homework she finished the night before. Assignments were collected and the lecture started with Marinette taking careful notes. A few minutes later, the class was interrupted by the door opening.

Adrien Agreste gave a sheepish smile as he entered the room. His face might have seemed perfectly composed but his stare was vacant, as if his mind was elsewhere. The usual excuse of an extended photoshoot slipped through his lips before he was asked to go to sit down. He quickly did as he was told, exchanging a small greeting with Nino before the teacher resumed speaking.

Marinette peered over his direction with a worried gaze. This sort of morning had become routine for both of them, one suffering inwardly and the other, outwardly. She couldn't blame him at all for not noticing what was going on all around him. Caught in his own busy schedule as usual, he had yet to notice how the dynamic of the class had changed.

A few months ago, Adrien's world had shattered.  
\---

Even before the lunch bell rang, Marinette had her things gathered. If she was quick, she could run right past Lila and make it safely to the library. Of course, she knew her classmate wouldn't pull anything in front of the teacher and other students, but it was better to be more careful than anything. She might have acted a bit coldly as she dodged Alya, who looked like she wanted to say something, but she didn't have time to wait.

Successfully out of the classroom with nothing happening, the blunette made a beeline for her destination. She sat down at the nearest table and pulled out several folders and books. Even if she wasn't Ladybug as much anymore, she still had to balance being the class rep and guardian of the Miraculous. Stuffing what was supposed to be her breakfast in her mouth, Marinette began working on an assignment, studying the ancient tongue of the Guardians, and all while planning the last dance of the year.

"Ahem," she heard somebody nearby clear their throat but she was too trapped in what she was doing to pay attention. This happened a couple more times before she felt hands grab her shoulders, causing her to freeze. "Marinette!"

"...Oh Alya, it's only you." She looked at her (former) friend with a careful expression. If it was Lila coming to threaten her again, she honestly didn't know how she would handle that at this point. This did not mean good news, however, as Alya was giving her one of those looks. The blogger was definitely planning something.

"Geeze girl, you gotta stop with the Mean Girl act. It isn't like you." Marinette could almost laugh at the irony in her statement. Her, the mean one? It was downright hilarious how skewed things had become but then, it wouldn't help the matter. "Anyway, I came to invite you to a party this weekend."

"Why?" That was the first word out of her lips. She wanted her friends back, sure, but she knew it wouldn’t be so simple. Especially when it concerned Lila, Marinette knew for certain that she wasn’t in the wrong and shouldn’t risk comprising her stance in this scenario.

"I know we haven’t been getting along so much anymore but this is the perfect opportunity to make up!" Alya pulled out her planner that had a bunch of notes, listing guests and activities. "Everyone in class will be there, including Adrien!"

"....Lila's going to be there, isn't she?" With that, Alya's face dropped. There it was, the backdraw to it all. Marinette would sooner give up her Miraculous and position as guardian then willing to to a party with Lila. She wasn't quite sure when her classmate's torment turned into outright bullying but she could feel the dread at whatever incident might occur if she went.

"...Girl, I don't know what your problem is with her, but it has to stop." Alya put her hands on her hips, a mixture of anger and disappointment on her face. It was obvious that her former friend was only trying to help, painfully unaware of the damage Lila had done. "I thought I knew you better than this!"

"The funny thing is, I thought you did too." It was definitely not the right thing to say and something she would regret later, but the teen’s sleep-deprived and buzzing mind could hardly care at that moment. Alya gave an exasperated huff and stormed off at her response. Marinette was left alone in the library, furiously wiping away tears.

\---

Lunch ended and all Marinette could do was toss her half-eaten food and head to class. She attempted to focus on taking notes and paying attention to her teacher, but her mind was trapped by her spiralling thoughts. It didn’t help that time moved too fast and too slowly seemingly at once. When she managed to finally look down at her paper, she found her handwriting was a messy scrawl and the subject barely coherent.

Sighing, Marinette just resigned to watching videos on what she missed later. It was a good thing that the rest of the afternoon passed without further incident. Once the final bell rang, she made it out the door, pointedly ignoring the talk of the party that weekend. She had almost made it out of school when, of course, she happened to lose her footing down the building's steps.

"Waah!" She cried as she took a rather nasty stumble forward. As she headed towards the ground below, she braced herself. Hopefully, with her Ladybug reflexes, she would be able to manage to tuck and roll safely on her feet.

"Careful." That, however, did not happen. She felt herself land on someone, or rather, someone's chest. She squirmed a bit in the person's grasp. "Don't worry, I got you."

"Sorry Adrien." If this had been a couple years ago, she wouldn't have been able to breathe properly. Now only her face flushed in embarrassment as she pulled away. She avoided his her friend’s worried gaze.

"...Are you okay? That was a nasty fall." She nodded despite feeling her foot ache. Realizing that if she managed her little tumble, it would have probably been broken. Oh well, those crazy stunts were always Chat Noir's thing, never hers.

"I'll be fine, thanks for the help." Marinette tried to give a reassuring smile before picking up her things and standing. To the model, it probably didn't look quite right. However, he made no attempt to voice said concerns. "I should go, see you tomorrow."

"Alright, see you." The blunette quickly ran past him, towards the bakery.  
\---

Several hours later, Marinette entered her room. After returning from school, she greeted her parents, helped out in the bakery for the mid-afternoon rush, did her homework, planned that dance more, and ate dinner. At nine o'clock, her mom and dad retired to bed, leaving their teenaged daughter to go up to hers.

"... Marinette," Tiki gave her a concerned look as she flew out of her purse. She had been meaning to come out beforehand but the tiny God got the feeling that her chosen had been avoiding this very conversation. "You can't keep running from your own feelings."

"I know Tiki, there just isn't much I can do at this point." Marinette sighed, rubbing her tired eyes. "I can only hope to bide my time for now until I move onto uni."

"That's still several months away though." Even though that amount of time was short to the godling, she understood that to humans- particularly the teenaged kind- that it could seem like forever.

"I can manage well enough until then. Anyway, it's past time for patrol to start. Tiki, spots on!" In no time at all, Ladybug was swinging through the streets of Paris. For a while now, patrols had become rather spotty for her. Things had certainly calmed down since the final fight that occurred some time ago. However, that didn’t mean there wasn’t going to be a new threat that would pop up sooner or later. Ladybug just had to bide her time until she was needed again.

The heroine made it to the top of the Eiffel tower, one of the meeting places that Cat Noir and her would come to before they started their routes. She made sure to check her tracker to know if he would be out tonight and, true enough, she saw a green blip heading her way. From where he was coming from, she guessed that he had already started, she was late after all.

“Milady,” he said, landinging next to her. Chat looked as tired and worn as she felt but he had somehow managed to come every evening for about two weeks straight now. She honestly didn’t know how he could do it. “I didn’t expect to see you out tonight.”

“Sit down with me, Chat. Have some tea.” She brought the usual treats that she would bring to keep them both energized. The superhero gave a quiet nod and sat next to her, taking a sip of the hot beverage and nibbling on a small biscuit. They ate in what was now customary silence, nothing but a worried glance shared between them.

‘When had things started getting so awkward anyway?’ Where was the Chat who refused to shut up at times? The one that constantly flirted with her or stroked his own ego? Marinette was just about ready to beg him to throw her at least a terrible joke or two, if only to cheer them both up.

As if reading her mind, Chat spoke up. “Hey Bug, I wanted to thank you.”

"Oh?" She already had a feeling what he might say but it would be best to hear him out. So she just prompted him to continue with a somewhat concerned look.

"I haven't really had my head in the game lately so thank you, it means a lot to me." He took a sip of his tea as the heroine nodded.

"I only did what you would have done for me, Cat." That much she knew was true. If she had been more apparent about her feelings and, if Chat wasn't so lost in his own, she knew he would be the one comforting her right then. Even if they didn’t know a lot about each other, that would never change.

Her partner's face perked a little, in an expression that was reminiscent of the ones he would usually give. That playful jokester look hadn't been lost after all it seems. "...Still, thanks for being so mintiful towards me."

Ladybug choked on her own tea, sputtering. She was caught somewhere between a laugh and a groan at the unexpected pun. It was far from one of his better ones, but she would have taken it, if she hadn't been caught so off guard.

"Too much, wasn't it?" Her reaction was apparently not what he was looking for. She quickly shook her head multiple times, in an attempt to not mess things up more.

"Chat, that was the first pun you have said in months. I was beginning to think you forgot how." She fidgeted slightly but held eye contact with him. "It's good to see you getting back to your old self."

"Oh, a-alright," he said, giving a shaky smile. Marinette sighed slightly, knowing what to address next.

"Look Cat, I know you don't want to talk about it but… know that I am always here for you." She could only guess but she had a feeling why her partner wasn't opening up to her about this. "C'mon, let's start patrol."

Once it was decided that neither of them would eat anymore, Ladybug put away the snacks and started stretching. Cat Noir was ahead of her already so he gave a salutary salute and simply vaulted away to finish his route.

The smile Ladybug held for her partner faded as he disappeared into the night. With how out of sorts Chat was acting, something terrible must have happened in his personal life. That's why she held this facade in front of him. Whatever he was going through must have been so much worse.

A few months ago, Cat Noir's world had shattered too.


	2. Frayed At the Seams

"Don't be bemused, it's _just_ the news. Hello, I'm Nadja Shamoc and I am here with Paris' own superhero, Ladybug." The reporter said from her studio that was set up for this interview. Her gaze was focused on the respectful crowd of people that had been gathered. These sorts of events attracted a lot of people to the news building, since no one wanted to miss out on what Ladybug had to say.

"Hello citizens of Paris, it's always wonderful to be here." The heroine sat across from Nadja on a stiff couch. She tried her best to not be nervous in front of others, especially when she was in costume, but she felt it might have been showing on her face. To combat this, she gave a bigger smile and waved at the audience with what she hoped was her usual Ladybug collectiveness.

"It's always great to have you on here." Nadja gave her a newscaster smile, though Ladybug could see that a hint of curiosity behind it. Despite being part of the media, the older woman could at least look genuine most of the time. "Things have really calmed down since the defeat of Hawkmoth a few months ago."

"It really has- I am really glad to see Paris finally recovering from his attacks." This was probably the best part of the current situation. After Hawkmoth had essentially terrorized the citizens for three years, Parisians had become used to bottling their negative emotions. This, in turn, created less frequent but more powerful akuma. "I'll continue to do my part for the city so it will stay that way."

"About that, Ladybug." Nadja's face morphed somewhat into something that looked like concern. "As thankful as we all are for what you do, people were asking if you might be... looking to retire anytime soon."

"What do you mean?" She asked for clarification despite already knowing the road where this was going. Of course, there was going to be a day in which she was no longer needed but she really didn’t want to think about it. An uncomfortable feeling seeped underneath the surface in her mind but she did what she could to ignore it.

"Since the final battle is over and the city has recovered, some wonder whether you are… currently needed.” Ladybug took a sip of her water to hide the gulp that forced its way down her throat. She didn’t think that Parisians would already be questioning her presence so soon, especially since-

"Hawkmoth may be defeated but that doesn't mean my duty is over quite yet." If Bunnyx was anything to go by at least, that wouldn't happen anytime soon. Ladybug hadn’t even gotten her full range of powers yet so it must not be over yet. "The moth brooch is still missing after all."

"Are you saying another Hawkmoth might appear?!" The uncomfortable feeling came back with a vengeance but Marinette only took another drink from her glass to settle her nerves. This was also was something that she expected to be asked.

"It's certainly possible but know that Cat Noir and I are doing everything we can to stop that from happening." That was all she could do, really. The last thing she wanted was to cause a panic and inadvertently help the next supervillain. At the same time, this false sense of peace could also be very bad just as well.

"...Speaking of Cat Noir, though, his fans are wondering if he is okay." Nadja paused, giving a concerned look. It was good to know that he still had a loyal fanbase that worried about him. "Why hasn't he made any public appearances lately?"

"...Cat Noir has been dealing with personal issues lately. That's all I can really say on the matter." Thinking of him, Marinette could only sigh. There was a lot she wanted to say about her kitty but, if she wasn’t careful, she would give away too much. "I am sure he'll make an appearance when he's ready."

"Well, I do hope that he will be alright." Ladybug nodded as she took another drink. Thankfully, it was almost the end of the interview. It seemed like these segments would span on for at least an hour but this time, she was only scheduled for a thirty minute slot. There was very little she could do with time constraints so she was grateful for the news stations accommodations. "One last question before you go, Ladybug."

"Sure, of course." She already had the glass of water in her hands so she drank more.

"Since the arrest of Gabriel Agreste, it has come to light that his assistant, Natalie, was in on it too." Alarms and red flags went off in her mind at where this line of questioning was going. Still, Nadja continued. "Do you think that his son, Adrien Agreste, might have had something to do with his schemes?"

Marinette nearly dropped her glass as she choked on her own spit. She had prepared for this question in particular. There were rumors going around that, since his son had never been akumatized, it was likely that Adrien was helping Hawkmoth. Still, she couldn't believe that one of her closest friends was capable of doing that. All she had to do was remain calm and respond accordingly-

"Adrien Agreste is still just a _child!_ It's entirely possible he had no clue about what his father was doing! I will not stand for these baseless rumors since no proper evidence has come to light!!" Ladybug knew that she should have responded in a more tactful manner. Maybe it was the fact her close friend was subjected to house arrest, how he lost everything in one night alone, or maybe it was the empty smiles and reassurances that he was fine that did it. There was also the fact that Chat had been mentioned earlier, since both of the most important boys in her life seemed to be suffering. 

It might have even been just stress but, as the superhero stormed off the set, tears were leaking from her eyes. The audience and Nadja were left somewhat in shock as the broadcast was abruptly cut. Unbeknownst to her, a certain boy had been watching from the TV in his room, a small semblance of a smile gracing his lips. "....Thank you, Ladybug."

\---

Finally back on her balcony, Ladybug took time to detransform and breathe properly. Tiki was already patting her cheek in comfort, trying her best to calm Marinette's anxiety ridden state. Interviews and appearances always made her nervous to some degree. That is why Chat always made more public appearances, as he always knew what to say and how to say it.

A couple years ago, she had a lot more confidence talking to other people. Surprise, surprise, that was something Lila had taken from her. It felt like the girl had stolen any peace of mind she could ever have. All she could do at this point was to try to calm down so she wouldn't wake up her parents, or, at the very least, not wake her mother.

She let a few tears slip down her cheeks before she opened the trap door on her balcony and climbed into her bed. Laying there for a few moments, she contemplated getting up and actually getting into her pajamas. Marinette dismissed the thought very quickly, knowing sleep wouldn't come easily to her that night. Before she could think of what to do to occupy her time, there was a light knocking above her.

Narrowing her eyes, the teenager grabbed one of her thick, harder than a brick pillows and inch-opened the trap door. She blinked upon seeing the familiar rubbery soles of her partner as he took a step back from the opening. His gaze was friendly but also brimming with concern. "....Princess?"

"What are you doing here, Cat Noir?" She poked her head out of her room but remained inside. Her kitty stood awkwardly on her balcony, as if unsure how to approach her. If you told her months ago that Chat had the capacity to turn into such a frightened mouse, she would have laughed. Hard.

"I, uh, was on patrol when I heard… the unmistakable sound of muffled crying." Now it was her turn to act awkward. Of course, he had super hearing so it made sense that he could detect even the softest sobbing. He was probably worried that she could become an akuma.

"...Oh. Don't worry Chat, I'm just fine." She put on her most convincing smile but he gave an unimpressed look. "You were probably hearing someone else that was upset-"

"-This isn't the only night I heard it." The boy gave her a somewhat guilty look as he continued his interruption. "I- er- heard it on my patrol, at least three or four times now. It was only today I could pinpoint it coming from the bakery."

"It's fine, Kitty,. I was only stress-crying." Marinette felt bad lying to him like that but she wasn't sure what she _could_ tell him. Certainly not that she knew he was hurting, not when that conversation would tread too close to her own identity. She could have told him about Lila but really, that was really her own problem. Not a superhero's, especially one dealing with his own issues. "I don't want to be akumatized so I just need to let it out sometimes, you know?"

Chat Noir gave a sigh in either relief or defeat, she couldn't tell. His tail flicked for a moment as he contemplated something. "...At least let me help you cheer up then."

"What do you have in mind?" He was already by her side, holding out his hand in a gesture she hadn't seen from him in ages. Gently, she reached out and let him take the palm of her hand in his fingers. Chat gave a lopsided smile, not as bright as his usual ones or even his devilish smirks, but she could tell it was real and genuine. After missing maybe a few beats, she was in his arms as he jumped from the bakery patio to the Parisan rooftops.

Her partner took her to one of the abandoned buildings that they used as a quick meet-up point for patrols. Already set up was a blanket, picnic basket, and an old radio. It was the exact arrangement she had put up when Chat hinted that he wasn't eating enough at his home. "...Oh Kitty," was all she could say, touched.

"I know it isn't much but this is how my- what Ladybug would do for me sometimes." Marinnete nodded as she sat down and he began to pull out food and some plates. Carefully, he made a platter for her before putting together one for himself.

"...Thank you, Chat." She began to eat the food he must have had stored in a temperature-controlled container for it to be so warm. Soft music played from the radio as they sat in silence. Without realizing it, tears were welling in her eyes. "How do you do it?"

"...Do what, Princess?" Chat gave a concerned look as he set his food down for a moment.

"How do you talk to the public? Know what to say and how to say it?" He might not have done it recently but… he made it look all so very easy. He could wow a crowd with just a few words. She would never admit to it but she had always looked up to his charm and charisma, even if she poked fun at it sometimes.

“...It came more from experience than anything. Years of social conditioning and proper educate does wonders for diplomacy and negotiation.” There it was, little snippets from the life he had. In the beginning, Marinette would never imagine her partner being the high society type but, the more that he hinted and let slip, the more she understood that he wasn’t what he seemed at times. He definitely was lonelier than he let on initially. “Though, not even that can prepare you for controversy, turmoil, or the fallout that follows. It really speaks to someone’s character _how_ they react in certain situations ....”

“...Is that why you have been avoiding the press? You’re not sure how to handle it?” It suddenly made sense why he had become so camera shy as of late.

“No one can be perfect all the time, least of all me,” he said glumly, as if it was something he had come to realize himself. That it was a hard truth that he couldn’t _do_ everything, be the hero that Paris needed to be all the time. She wasn’t sure if she was projecting her own insecurities onto Chat or… if she saw herself in him at that moment.

“...Who says that you _have_ to be perfect though?? Every other day, you _saved_ the city from peril! That isn’t an easy job! I am sure people understand that and are willing to support you, Chat. I know I am.”

“....Thanks, but I don’t think Ladybug is very happy about it.” Chat looked down guilty, his food forgotten even in his hands.

“Why do you say _that_?!” Marinette was almost _appalled_ at what he had implied. Did he think that she didn’t _care_ about him? That she expected her partner to be _better than she was?!_

“...If I can’t do my part, it only pushes more onto hers. She’s the current _guardian of the miraculous,_ was the one that _actually_ defeated Hawkmoth, and we are both still trying to find the missing Moth Brooch.” Chat Noir sighed again, overlooking the city. “I think she’s far more _tired_ than she lets on….”

“...Maybe. Maybe you are right.” In the end, that was all she could think to say. The two of them just picked at their food before the superhero took her home. He gave a small smile as he waved before vanishing into the night. Marinette watched him go before laying in her bed and falling into an uneasy sleep.

Maybe, she should take her own advice sometimes…

\---

_It had been two weeks after the fight and Ladybug was exhausted. Every night she had been out patrolling the streets, trying to find any trace of the missing miraculous. She couldn’t believe her own ineptitude at the time, failing to retrieve it right after Gabriel had been defeated. There was only herself to blame so she, alone, would bear the responsibility of finding it. At least, that was what she convinced the media about the next day, in response to her partner’s apparent absence._

_There had been no sign of Chat since he had fled that night from the Agreste mansion. He had been acting strangely quiet since they found out Hawkmoth’s real identity. Then there was how he acted while they faced off against the villain. Words alone couldn’t describe the shock and horror on his face as he stood before a passed-out Gabriel Agreste before bolting from the scene._

_That was another reason why she had come each and every evening. She had been worried sick about her kitty, wondering if he was safe and sound wherever he was. He had long since hinted that his homelife was subpar, without going into any details, of course. Her mind ran through the possibilities of what happened to him, what could still be happening to him._

_Ladybug had only let out a sigh of relief when she saw that he had been transformed that day. Without hesitating, she swung her yo-yo and headed to the building that her partner had perched upon. It had been lightly sprinkling for the past hour but his hair had been completely soaked. She began approaching him before he spoke, his voice strained from emotion._

_“...Why… why did it have to be him?!” Chat Noir cried out into the night, causing Ladybug to freeze in place. She stood there, not knowing if she should go over to him or run away herself in that moment. Cat had decided for her, as he grabbed onto his baton, and vaulted away into the night._

_She stood there in the drizzling rain, her pounding thoughts screaming at her. His words were on repeat her mind and a cold dread washed over her. Gabriel had to be someone close to Chat for him to say something like that… but her brain utterly refused to connect the dots further._

The sound of a lighting strike had Marinette jolting awake in her bed, dripping wet. She had stupidly left her skylight open as some rainwater had gone into her sheets. Closing the hatch, the bluenette got up to change clothes and get a new bedspread.  
\---

Once again, Monday came with morning class. Marinette groaned as Tiki somehow managed to convince her chosen to get up on her second alarm. In a haze, she dragged herself out of bed, changed her clothes, and at least attempted to do her hair properly. By the time she was downstairs, she thought she looked decent enough, even if she was so very tired. The look that her mother gave said otherwise though. “...Oh Honey, are you alright?”

“Perfectly fine, Mom.” She gave her best, most convincing smile but the older woman just frowned deeper at her. Taking a glance at the mirror hanging on the wall, the teen finally understood her mother’s concern. She had somehow managed to put everything she was wearing on backwards, her pigtails were uncharastically uneven, and the lack of make-up showed the dark bags under her eyes.

“Here, let me help.” Sabine grabbed a spare hairbrush that she kept hidden for mornings like these. She had long suspected her daughter was dealing with too much on her plate. It was the little things that gave it away; how she had been caught nodding off during dinner, how she would keep herself locked in her room busy with projects and homework, or how her reaction time on videogames had suffered. 

At first, the older woman took small measures to lessen the load for her daughter. She hired extra help in the bakery so she didn’t have to ask Marinette to fill in before or after school. The chore list that she put up to be done became smaller and yet, progress was still slow. When Marinette blamed lack of sleep on insomnia, they went to a doctor and she was prescribed medicine. When those didn’t work, she gave her daughter herbal tea and helped meditate with her. When she became too busy for that, she allowed the teen to start drinking coffee, in reasonable intakes of course.

Looking at her child, it seems that still wasn’t enough. More drastic measures needed to be taken if only for the sake of her wellbeing. If not, Sabine was scared that she might lose her only daughter. “Marinette, I want you to take tomorrow afternoon off. To do nothing at all but rest.”

“...Huh?” Marinette gave a confused look as Sabine tied her hair in their familiar ribbons. It seemed that she had been lost in thought or, maybe, too tired to even think properly. It was hard to tell.

“You’ve been taking on so many responsibilities and for that I am happy, but you also need to take care of yourself too. I don’t want to see you burn yourself out at such a young age.” The mother was very much of the opinion that children should be able to enjoy their childhood while it lasted.

“....I’ll be fine Mom, I promise.” That was yet another empty promise to add to the pile. Ever since becoming Ladybug, her life had been chock full of those, along with plenty of lies. It never ceased to make Marinette feel any less guilty about it though.

“I am serious, Honey. I _will_ ground you if you do not take a break. Even if grounding means shoving you out of the house to do something less productive.” Sabine gave her a soft smile, tucking a stray strand of hair out of her face. “Now go on up stairs and get changed again so you can make it to school on time.”

“....Okay.” Marinette thanked her mom and went back to her room. She righted her clothing and put on a concealer to hide her eye bags. Grabbing her purse and her bag, she made it downstairs in time to have breakfast and coffee with her mom. Kissing her parents goodbye, she ran off towards Francois Dupont with plenty of time to spare, for once.

Maybe, if she listened to her mom’s advice, things wouldn’t have gone so _poorly_ that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter count is still sort of a rough estimate. It might go up or down but I do have an idea how things end.
> 
> I am not quite happy with how this chapter turned out but progress is still progress.
> 
> Have a great day/night everyone!


	3. Among the Blind and Foolish

Marinette regretted being early for once. The lack of sleep was already getting to her, and no amount of coffee or caffeine was going to help. Her head had begun aching already and her vision was somewhat spotty at its edges. Still, she thought she could at least handle the day as she had suffered worse from the previous Hawkmoth’s periods of unrest. She was wrong, however, as it seemed she was so tired that the teen hadn't heard Alya and Lila talk behind her as blunette lazed up the school steps. That is, until they had passed her, and she felt a quick jab to one of her calves. _"Waaaaaah!"_

Marinette could only fall towards, hitting face-first onto one of the ledges and sliding down a couple of steps, scraping her knees in the process. She might have been used to falling down a lot, but she hadn't stumbled this bad in quite a while. Her Ladybug reflexes had helped her in that department at least. Not that she didn't know this wasn't deliberate.

"Marinette, oh my gosh, are you _o-kay?_ " Lila asked in fake concern as she gripped tightly on her forearm, just not hard enough that it wouldn’t leave a bruise. It was a warning, play along or else.

"L-leave me _alone,_ Lila!" Marinette screamed before bolting upright and running into the school. She didn't slow down until she was safe inside the girl's restroom, where she locked herself in a stall. Her breathing was heavy as she tried her best to keep calm.

"Marinette-" Tiki had flown from her purse but couldn't get a word in before the door slammed open. Neither of them had to guess who it was.

"Girl, what the absolute _hell_." Ladybug in all her grace and glory flinched at Alya's tone. Marinette would have laughed at the irony of it all, if she knew a good way out of this. "Lila was only trying to help you!"

"Alya, she's the one that tripped me! How did you _not_ see that?!" Her eyes were welling with tears and, if she wasn't careful, she would become prime akuma bait. Tiki patted her on the cheek, not leaving her side at all.

"I'm sure you just missed the next step. Stop blaming everything and anything on Lila! She already has enough problems to deal with!" Marinette had to remind herself that Alya was only trying to defend someone who she _thought_ had arthritis, tinnitus, and whatever other _-itis_ she claimed to have.

"Yeah, I'm _sure_ she does!" That, however, didn't keep the dripping sarcasm from her voice. It probably should have though, as she could almost feel Alya’s indignant glare from the other side of the stall.

"Not this again- where is your _proof_ that she's lying?!" Alya sighed exasperatedly. Marinette could almost do the same with this same song and dance. Why was the ball in her court to prove what a liar Lila was when it was so obvious that what she was saying didn’t hold any water?

"Where is your proof she _isn't_? Has she ever backed up anything she has _ever_ said?! Or are just blind because she's Ladybug's _'friend'_ or whatever?” A part of Marinette wanted to scream at Alya that _she_ was Ladybug, that the Ladyblogger was her _actual_ best friend, and Lila had _no business_ using her name to seem much cooler than she was. However she couldn’t do that, not when it risked her own identity but also the fact that her and Alya’s friendship was quite strained as it was.

"That's enough, Marinette! You probably don't even _know_ Ladybug!" Again, she could almost _laugh_ at the irony. It would probably blow her friend’s mind when and if she ever learned the truth. That was only just a hypothetical… and, at this rate they were going, it might not ever happen.

"...Have you even asked her yourself? You know, like _fact-check_ at least?!" Marinette knew she shouldn't have gone there but she was just done with everything at that moment. It felt like her friend had taken every little favor and gift she had ever done for her and slapped her in the face with them. She regretted it though when she heard Alya loudly gasp before quickly leaving the restroom.

\---

Ten minutes later, Marinette walked into her class with a note from the nurse. Mdm. Bustier gave her a worried look but she just stuttered an excuse of tripping on the school steps before taking her seat. In avoiding Alya’s gaze, she almost missed Adrien staring at her in concern, though no words passed between them.

Class continued on as normal. When the bell rang and nothing else happened, Marinette was able to let out a sigh of relief. Sure, she still felt slight pain from Lila tripping her, but that didn’t compare to the feelings of guilt and betrayal that she was currently undergoing. To her surprise, Adrien had approached her and asked how she was doing after her little accident. This seemingly normal behavior from him would have been just so if it had been several months ago. So she felt almost bad, deflecting and giving an excuse for her earlier fall, as this was the first time he had reached out to her since then.

As she was getting to her next class, she wasn’t expecting to be caught by the rumor mill. Several people had approached her, asking her odd questions. What did she _really_ do when an akuma attack happened? Was the word going around true that she left school whenever one had occurred? Did the teachers _know_ she was doing this? Was she almost always late because she was constantly sneaking off to those most _unsavory_ activities?

The only thing Marinette could do at that moment was refuse to answer and head to science. She sat down in an exhausted huff at her desk and saw that her purse was open. Tiki was poking her head through the opening, giving the teen a concerned look. She just shook her head and mouthed the word _‘later’_ before Ms. Mendeleiv walked into the room and began the lecture.

It took everyone off guard when several phones went off in class, the same alarm when an akuma appeared. There was no apparent risk to the school so their teacher resumed the lesson. Thankfully, Marinette didn’t have to come up with a lame excuse like needing to use the restroom. She just cited pain from her injury that moment and was sent to the nurse.

This, however, did not stop other students from looking at her rather suspiciously.

\---

"Good morning, Bug. Nice to see you again." Chat greeted her in an attempt at normalcy, though it still lacked the flair and flirty tones he onced used. When she failed to answer him back, his small smile turned into a quick frown. "... Something the matter, M'lady?"

"It's nothing, just having a rough day." She sighed as she surveyed the scene. An entire city block had been destroyed but there was no akuma in sight. Debris from the destruction obscured their view so it was hard to tell where the villain was hiding. The only thing they could do was sweep the area and find the threat.

Both of them chatted idly between evacuating the area and figuring exactly what the hell had happened. They quickly realized there was no sign of a possessed person or sentient monster at all so they resorted to digging in the rubble to see what they could figure out. After about an hour, they had found several remnants of what looked like bombs.

"Was this _all_ just an elaborate ruse?!" Ladybug huffed when they had gathered everything together. Investigators were already on scene and snapped photos of everything and anything. "Who would even _do_ something like that?!"

"It could have just some copycat criminal who was _'inspired'_ by Hawkmoth?" Her partner pondered, standing next to her. While it made sense that someone could have wanted to emulate the supervillain, that didn’t seem right at the moment. Something else had to have been going on.

"No, this seems _too_ elaborate to be a mere imposer. Whoever it was definitely wanted our attention." They would have had to set up _numerous_ bombs in multiple places without being caught. That took time and some serious dedication to pull off. Not to mention money and possibly even manpower to do it, with the amount of material they gathered.

"We should probably ask if anyone saw anything, just in case." The superheroine nodded and followed after Cat to the area where the wounded were being treated. Police officers were questioning some of the least injured. Marinette had been glum about some of the casualties they found, wondering if the miracle cure would work in this instance. She did her best not to puke at the thought, though her stomach still twisted and turned.

They went over to ask whoever they could as to what happened. Most weren't sure what happened as they tried to escape ground zero the moment they heard explosions go off. The victims that were closer to the blasts swore that they saw something place the bombs on walls, windowsills, and just about anything they would stick to. Those that were right next to the blasts were either unconscious or dead.

"Sounds like it had to be an akuma. The question now is- where did it go?" It couldn't have been caught in its own line of fire, right? Wouldn't it still be after the Miraculous? What happened to it? Where could it have gone?!

"Guerilla warfare maybe? Take the enemy by surprise and then make a swift retreat," Chat speculated. The theory was sound in her mind but there was still a lot they didn’t know. "Whoever this new Hawkmoth could be might have only wanted to cause a scene. Spread panic."

"...True. Whatever it was is either gone or in hiding." Marinette opened her yo-yo, groaning as she looked at the time. It was already half-past noon which meant she would return during the tail end of lunch. Great, looks like she wouldn't be eating until school was over. "Ugh, I can't stay much longer. People might have already noticed…"

"Me neither... Should we patrol later on tonight, just in case?" She only nodded at that before tossing her yo-yo in the air. It was far less dramatic than it usually was but it got the job done.

" _Miraculous Ladybug!_ " The destruction around them was fixed in no time at all.

\---

The bell had just rung for lunch and Marinette nearly slapped herself for leaving her bag in the science classroom. Thankfully, one of her classmates had given it to her when she was back. It seemed the earlier rumors of where she went to were momentarily forgotten as the strange akuma attack was on most people's minds. Sighing in relief, Marinette walked to her next class.

As soon as she entered, her eyes met Adrien's and he motioned for her to come over. Without anything better to do before the bell rang again, she walked over to him. "Hi Adrien."

One of the only good things that happened after distancing herself from Adrien was the fact she could actually speak to him properly. Sure, her crush was still there, but she was able to pay it no mind. So, when she looked at his face, she was not gawking at his looks but rather, at the dripping concern that marred his features. “Hey, Marinette. I wanted to ask you something.”

“Sure, go on ahead.” Ever since he had withdrawn himself from his friends, he had hardly spoken a _word_ to her. She mentally kicked herself for not trying harder to reach out to him but was glad nonetheless that he appeared to be opening himself up again. She was just worried that the expression he was giving- had his emotions won out and he had tried to do something stupid? Was he still _thinking_ about doing things like that? She really hoped that wasn’t the case.

“Are… are you okay? You seem really tired…” His question had caught her off guard. Adrien could be perceptive when he wanted to be, even if he grew up being socially illiterate. He did manage to learn cues from Nino and Alya, giving him pointers on how to handle certain situations ever since he had met them. It might not have helped him how to deal with someone like Lila but it did help him make observations with the people he knew.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just didn’t manage to eat anything over lunch.” The only thing she could do was give more excuses. She really did not want to open the jar that was closed tight on her emotions, especially when she feared that she would get the same spiel of the highground. “That strange akuma attack or whatever it was made me too nervous.”

Adrien gave a hum at that, though he didn’t look entirely convinced. He picked up his bag off the ground and haphazardly dug around in it. Within seconds, he produced a couple energy bars from it and handed it to her. “It’s not much but it should at least get you through the rest of the day.”

“...Thank you, Adrien.” The rest of their classmates had already filed in just in time for the bell to sound. Their teacher wasn’t there yet so they took the opportunity to mingle with their friends instead of taking their seats. Marinette deposited the snack Adrien had given me in her purse so she could sneak bites in during the period. With no one else to talk to, she weaved around the other students to get to her desk in the back.

She never made it there as she had to pass _Lila_ on her way up. Marinette tried to more or less silently pass her when the Italian had stuck her foot out at just the right time again. The teen let out a soft squeak as she tumbled on the classroom steps, her bag spilling out its contents as she had failed to notice the zipper hadn’t been closed. 

Hearing her peers take a collective gasp not at the convenient stroke of clumsiness, she looked up to see what was lying around her. Mixed in with her school books and binders, were several square packets in a variety of colors and, to her utter dread, one was open and missing what had been inside. Immediately, the class began whispering to each as they gawked at the sight.

A sudden burst of nausea hit Marinette as she felt her face go red at the sight. She knew Lila had asked some trite question about what the packets were but the Blunette had hardly heard it. Before anyone else could utter another word, Marinette picked herself off the ground and immediately fled the room, ignoring her own teacher as she ran past.

“...I’m so sorry, Tikki,” she whispered as she almost tore out her own earrings. With the attack from earlier, the gossip and rumor surrounding her, and the fact Lila had been more direct with her acts told Marinette that she wasn’t getting out of this one easily. There was no way she would avoid akumatization in this state.

The only sound she could hear at the time was the dreaded beat of a butterfly’s wings that seemingly chased her through the halls.

\---

It all started with Plagg pestering him about seeing his friends more. Ever since the fight several months ago, Adrien had been redrawing himself from those he knew. He had double- no _tripled_ down on his busy schedule simply because it was all he _could_ do. The familiarity of it was the only thing keeping him sane and away from that mansion. It maybe was not the healthiest thing to do but it provided plenty of distractions from the searing pain in his head.

That, however, was not the reason for avoiding his friends. He had already dealt with the media backlash and rumors from the public about his involvement with a _certain_ supervillain. That didn't mean he was ready to handle the fallout with his own peers at school, so he decided not to. Having already convinced himself that it didn't matter one way or the other, he isolated himself from everyone because he was too afraid that they would think less of him.

It was several days ago when he received his first wake up call. Patrol had become a nightly thing for him to the point where he pretty much _slept_ outside. He was about to settle in an abandoned knook high enough so he didn't have to deal with any trouble, when he heard it. His feline ears picked up soft crying from a few streets away. Unsure of the likelihood of an akuma appearing, Chat still went to investigate. It might have taken too long though, as the sound stopped.

The next time it happened, the superhero had attempted a stakeout. He ended up falling asleep, only waking to Plagg invading his thoughts. By the time he got to the relative area, somewhere around the school, it had stopped once again. The next evening, he had taken several shots of espresso and essentially stayed up to the wee hours of the morning without hearing a peep.

Thinking that whoever it was might be feeling better, Chat took his usual patrol route. As he bypassed Dupoint, he heard it again. Determined to pinpoint the sound, he set off toward it and landed near the bakery. He was almost sure that it had come from around this area but it was too soft to actually get a good read on it.

He looked up to the familiar balcony and saw nothing. Climbing up, he noticed the lights off in her room and chanced a peek inside. In the dark, he saw her still form laying in bed but she looked too stiff to actually be asleep. He was about to knock on her window when an idea struck him and he set off back home.

The very next evening, he was able to confirm that it was actually Marinette crying. He approached her with this information and set off to try cheering her up. It was quiet and awkward but she seemed a little better when he returned her home. Thinking that he had done all he could, Chat returned home feeling somewhat content with himself. Plagg had other thoughts.

" _Something's not right with Pigtails_ ," he had said. Adrien frowned at that, already somewhat second guessing himself.

" _She was only just stress-crying, Plagg._ " It was a poor defense, only said because he didn't want to be wrong. He had hoped that Marinette would have trusted him enough to tell him what the matter was. She even hinted at it earlier but...

" _Don't tell me you actually_ believed _her when she said that_?!" Adrien had just shaken his head in response. She might have alluded to public speaking being hard on her but that couldn't have been only it. Marinette was class president after all and they both were months away from graduating. What did she have to be nervous about? It's not like she had to make some big speech at the end of the year, right? He silently cursed his current withdrawn attitude. If he was closer to her, then he would have known for sure.

That is what brought him to today. He had tried to be early to school for once, forgoing his morning plans so he could talk to Marinette. He didn't actually expect her to be on time either so it caught him off guard when he heard her scream from atop the school steps. _"Waaaaah!"_

Standing right next to her were Lila and Alya. The Italian girl then grabbed onto his friend in what he supposed might have been a comforting gesture but he was too far away to tell. That's when Marinette's face morphed from pained to _panicked_.

" _Get_ away _from me, Lila!_ " Marinette yelled before bolting into the school. Lila gave this face, like she was pretending to be hurt, which caused Alya to go after the blunette. Adrien had recognized the look well enough, he _was_ a model after all.

Pursuing the two girls and ignoring Lila, Adrien found himself arriving at the nearest girls restroom maybe a tad _too_ late. Alya had just stormed right out of the room, looking rather pissed off. He was about to approach her when the class bell rang and he was forced to more or less drop the issue for now. In hindsight, he shouldn't have let it go there, as he had felt Plagg nudge him in his shirt.

Fifteen minutes into the lecture, Marinette walked into class with a nurse's note. She fumbled some excuse that she _fell_ on the school steps. He managed to catch her gaze but she quickly looked away. Right next to him, Lila had a look of satisfaction. It was then that he suspected what had _actually_ happened that morning, but it was not like he had managed to _see_ it occur, so he kept it to himself for the time being. That was another one of his mistakes…

Class continued on with nothing happening. He had tried to walk her to science hall but she had basically booked it out of there. By the time he managed to catch up, she was being approached by other students. Not wanting to interrupt, he let the matter slip once more, strike three.

When the akuma alert had gone off for the first time in months, Adrien had luckily gone to the restroom to relieve his business. He had gotten there before his partner but saw nothing more than the destruction that was caused before she arrived. Ladybug was many things- beautiful, brave, kind, creative, inquisitive, and lucky- but it was rare to see her more _vulnerable_ side. Sure, he had seen it the very first day they had become superheroes and during those hard moments when it felt like the world was against them, it was not something she let slip so easily during their day-to-day run-ins. This akuma attack, or whatever it had been, had clearly shaken her. That is why he resolved to talk to her later on during patrol, as he didn’t have much time left either to stay and prod her for what was wrong.

Lunch had practically ended by the time he had returned to school. He was glad he had swiped a couple energy bars from his stash that morning, as he would need them to get through the rest of the day. That’s when he saw Marinette walk into the classroom, looking tired and worn. Their eyes met and Adrien gestured her over without even really thinking. When she mentioned not being able to eat because of the mysterious attack earlier, he ended up giving her the snack food instead. The timid smile on her face that appeared was well worth the hunger-pains that he was likely to experience. It was not like he minded after all, as he was more used to them than he should be.

He might have been content enough to leave it there but he decided to watch her at least get to her desk, just in case. This turned out to be the right thing to do since, as Marinette had walked past Lila to get to her chair, the Italian girl stuck her foot out at the right moment in a gesture that _could_ have looked accidental if Adrien didn’t already know any better. Then the class took a collective gasp but he couldn’t entirely see why. Did they all finally see Lila for the fake she was? 

He got his answer after Marinette stood, red-faced and crying, before fleeing the scene. She had left her bag with its contents sprawled over the floor. That’s when he noticed the packets of condoms lying around her stuff and the students began muttering about them. They were talking about Marinette’s personal matters and how she _must_ have snuck away after the alert that morning to do the _deed_. Then he saw Lila’s expression, full of elation and victory, that caused his blood to boil.

“ _What the absolute_ hell _is wrong with you Lila?! Don’t think I didn’t see you trip her!!_ ” Adrien had yelled at her before making a mad dash out of the classroom. He knew that putting her immediately on the spot like that wouldn’t work, she could easily write it off as being an accident. He would handle that later though, as there is only one person that was on his mind at that moment. _“Marinette!”_

\---

He caught up with her in one of the hallways leading out of the school. She was laying on the ground like she had tripped and fallen, her face was pale and her breathing uneven. It looked like she might have passed out but the moment he nudged her, he saw her bluebell eyes snap open. Marinette's expression, full of shock and fear, morphed into unease upon seeing him.

"Adrien, it's too dangerous for you to stay here," she said before he could even get a word in. Why was it that she was more concerned about him when she was the one to face such utter humiliation?! "...I don’t think this new Hawkmoth would pass up the opportunity to akumatize me in the state I am in."

Oh. Adrien understood immediately what she was concerned about. Ever since he had failed to retrieve the moth brooch, a threat of a new supervillain hung in the air, and if the incident earlier was a good indicator of anything, _something_ was stirring in the shadows. Marinette's eyes shot around the area, as if anticipating the akuma to appear at any moment.

"Here. You're the only one left that I can trust with these." She shoved whatever was in her hands into his. That's when he noticed she had taken off her earrings as he felt them in his fingers. "Whatever you do, _please_ don't hesitate to stop me."

That was when she pushed him to the ground hard enough to leave him _stunned_. He stayed on there long enough for her to get away again. It took Plagg getting his attention to bring him back to reality. Adrien would have shot after her then and there, when he noticed what she actually had given, making his blood run cold. What he did not see were Marinette's obsidian studs. In the palm of his hand was the Ladybug Miraculous.

" _Fucking shit_ ," he cursed, running after her. " _ **MARI!!!**_ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Oh boy, this one turned out kinda long. At least, for me. This chapter had the scenes that have been playing through my mind since I first thought the story up. I hope I was ale to do them at least some justice. Fun fact, this was also had me deciding the rating as what Lila had done was something I could legitimately see doing in real life.
> 
> Anyway, have a nice day/night, peeps!


	4. Love and War

Adrien Agreste was an idiot. That was the only conclusion he could come to since finding out his friend and partner was about to be akumatized and it was all his fault. He should have tried harder to reach out to her, make sure she knew she _wasn't_ alone in this. Hell, if only he hadn't given that stupid, damned advice in the first place.

' _Take the high road indeed_.' His mind helpfully pointed out. His thoughts had been running through every little detail, event, and possibility where he _should_ have noticed sooner. That night where she alluded to being nervous about talking in front of people, during the interview in which she _stormed_ off set, or even during that patrol when she was acting slightly off, all showed that Marinette was silently suffering in one way or another.

' _How did I not see she had been faking a smile this entire time_?!' He was a model for God's sake- his default expression was a carefully practiced grin that he put on for the behalf of others! He really should have seen through the one his partner had put on for his benefit! But _nooo_ , he was too caught in his _own_ misery to notice a damn thing.

' _I hope it's not too late..._ ' It was the one thing keeping him going at this point, that he might be able prevent his friend from being akumatized. He found her in the middle of the school courtyard with a very familiar, blank expression. _Shit_.

When a black mist overtook her, Adrien ducked into a nearby closet, tears slipping from his eyes. The air was thick and heavy as he heard her pass by his hiding spot. With no further delay, he hastily clipped the earrings on, a pink glow shooting from them. The next moment, Tiki appeared before him. "Adrien-"

"There's no time to explain but we have to save Marinette! Tiki, spots on!" One transformation later and Mister Bug was exiting the closet. He grabbed onto his yo-yo and hooked onto the ceiling above. Plagg gave him a skeptical look from his shoulder.

"Didn't your girlfriend go the _other_ way?" Mister Bug was already on the school roof, already planning his next swing. He was looking at a building just down the street.

"Shut up Plagg, she's not my girlfriend." At this point, Marinette deserved so much better than him. "Besides, I have a plan."

The superhero took off towards the Dupain-Cheng bakery.

\---

Just over ten minutes had passed when he returned to the school and Adrien was already cursing himself for taking so long. By the time he had made it there, the current student body was in chaos. Adults and teenagers alike were either cowering in fear, retreating away before he could even get close, or were senselessly fighting each other. He saw Kim and Ivan duking at each other, screaming names and cussing one another. Rose and Mylene were trying to escape an aggressive Alix, who was threatening to spray paint right in their faces. He winced as he saw Nino being cornered by his girlfriend but, by the way he was trying to reason with her, it didn’t seem like he had been hit by the akuma. Then there was Lila, who was currently _strung_ to a basketball hoop and being hounded by most of their classmates.

“Lady- Oh, _Mister Hero_ \- please, won’t you _rescue_ me??” She sounded a little more genuine than she usually was, as she didn't have to fake the fear in her voice. "That _mean_ akuma put me up here because of some petty grudge she has."

Adrien could only guess that the Italian girl was projecting upon Marinette pretty hard. He just gave one of his model smiles at her, not moving any closer to her. No matter how hard he tried to reason himself, he found no reason to help her in that moment. "Don't worry, I'll defeat the akuma soon so you won't be up there much longer."

"B-but I'm afraid of heights! I'm going to pass out!!" He gave her a skeptical look, frowning. It wasn’t often that she didn’t get her own way, Mister Bug had figured, because the expression she gave was confused idignanced. "It's true! I get a strong sense of vertigo if I stay up too high for too long!"

"I'm not sure that's how vertigo actually works and besides, you wouldn't want to come down here anyway. Those students would just be able to chase you."

"Can't you just escort me somewhere safe?!" Lila was looking rather panicked now. It was clear to her that he would be of no aid, especially since he began walking away.

"It would just be faster if I defeated the akuma first. You should be safe up there, for now." Mister Bug smirked at her before running off. That was all the human decency that he could stand giving her after all. In his eyes, she deserved far worse than she was getting but that was a matter for another time entirely.

With no luck spotting Marinette in the school, he left. She was definitely smart enough to keep him on his toes about when and how she would attack. He could only follow the trail of victims she left in her wake. All around him, people were running chaos in the streets and he had to use his yo-yo more than once to either entangle or flee from an enraged person. Soon enough, he found himself in a small shopping plaza that was mostly deserted, save from a small group of people trying to dismantle some billboard nearby.

Since it had been about twenty minutes or so of not finding her, he wondered about summoning his lucky charm. Whatever he summoned could be useful in locating her, he reasoned. Then, he realized that's just what she wanted. Put him on a time limit to rush the fight so she had a chance to actually win. Very clever.

"I know you're out there, Princess," he said aloud. If he had his cat-like hearing, he probably would have heard her following him by now. She must have been staying just outside of his line of sight the entire time. "Your loyal knight has come to rescue you, per your _friend's_ request."

Someone landed right in front of him. A young woman wearing a traditional outfit to her heritage, that was mostly navy blue and off white, with startlingly hot pink accents. Her dark hair framed her pale face and her signature Bluebell eyes glared at me from under her bangs. "What are you doing here, _Chat Noir_?"

It was interesting that she chose to call him by his main alter ego and not by Mister Bug. Even Lila hadn't seemed to recognize him earlier, though she probably didn't keep good tabs on the ladyblog despite what she told Alya. "Like I said, your friend reached out to me."

"What about Ladybug then?" She was trying to catch his lie. It showed that she trusted Adrien enough that he would take things in his own hands rather than jeopardizing things with her partner. He wouldn't give it to her, though, and he doubted that even an akumatized Marinette would give up her secret identity like that.

"Since this is a _purr_ -sonal matter, I asked her to let me handle this fight on my own." Adrien stood his ground, daring her to call him out. "She relented after I told her that I needed to save a friend."

Marinette only narrowed her eyes but she didn't immediately respond with a rebuttal. She merely took a battle stance and charged forward, flaring a guandao towards him. Mister Bug readied to deflect her attack but he should have known that it was a mere feint. The akuma spun on her ankle and hit him deftly with the staff part of the weapon

Adrien lost his footing as his opponent was able to get more blows in. He used his yo-yo to trip her up before backing away and recovering. She didn't give him much time to do so unfortunately, as she was once again rushing at him. Not falling for her ruse twice, he managed to parry the second hit. It was, however, a little awkward holding her weapon in place by the string of his superpowered toy. He suddenly wished that he had his baton on him so he could properly duel her.

With a flick of his wrist, he was able to disarm her. It left him wide open, however, as she quickly punched him in the face. Wincing, he realized what he had to do. He grabbed a stern hold of her arm and flung her to the ground. During mock battles, Ladybug would often win by outsmarting her opponent. Chat had always been more of a natural fighter, using his instinct rather than thought in response. 

One thing that she didn't know, though, is that he never used his full might in their practice spars. He had been a little hesitant to fight his partner before but he couldn't afford to hold back now, not when everything was on the line. The words she spoke to him before running off rang his mind, over and over again. “ _Whatever you do, please don’t hold back_.”

Mister Bug was just about to pin Marinette to the ground when he was grabbed by behind. He cursed as he had forgotten about the victims that she had affected and probably should have realized that she could probably control them. They slammed him into the billboard that they managed to get off its hinges. The akuma stood, rebrandishing her weapon before pointing it right at him. The blade gleamed at him, mere inches from his face.

That's when he realized that the blade wasn't sharp at all. Only the very tip looked like it could penetrate anything at all. He figured that if he was stabbed but it, he would likely fall under the same spell she had on the others. His fate would either be falling into a blinding rage or cowering in fear behind her, neither sounding very pleasant. With not enough time to wiggle free, he braced himself for impact.

Only for it to not come at all. He opened his eyes and noticed that she wasn't staring at him but rather, was looking at whatever he was pressed against. Chat turned his head and glanced at the image on the board behind him from the corner of his eye. It was a Gabriel ad with _his_ own face plastered on it. Marinette had paused mid-lunge to gawk at his alter ego's features. "See something you _like_ , Princess?"

“What- I-I, no! I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Marinette sputtered before him. The superhero took the opportunity to free himself from her mob before grabbing a hold of her spear and breaking it on his kneecap. Sadly, no akuma fluttered out from it. About to be surrounded again, Mister Bug quickly used his yo-yo to hook onto the sign and fling it forward with enough force to scatter the crowd. It landed with a hefty crack, splitting in two. “ _ **NO!!**_ ”

“HOW _DARE_ YOU DEFILE THE FACE OF THE MOST **PERFECT** BOY IN ALL OF PARIS!” Adrien only had barely enough time to react as she leapt at him in a mad furry. He was glad that his fighting instincts had taken over as his mind had essentially gone blank from her comment. The way in which she had said it and how flushed her face had gotten, this was far more than her just not wanting to hurt someone she cared about. It might have just been a joke but what if…

‘ _Don’t tell me_ I _was the guy M’lady was-_ ’ His train of thought was cut off by her mindlessly attacking him. If damaging the mere image of him was enough to send her in a frenzy, he wondered how she would react to seeing his detransformed state in front of her. This momentary distraction was enough to let her get the upper hand again. ‘ _Later. I’ll have enough time to process all this later_.’

Winding his yo-yo around her leg, he tripped her and used the momentum to fling him away from him. She landed right on that broken sign of his, her gaze flickering to it before meeting his eyes. “Since you have so disgraced your friendship with him, then he must not be the reason you're fighting me. I’ll ask you again, why are you _even here_ , Chat Noir?”

‘ _To fix the mess I helped create_ ,’ his mind screamed at her. Since he would have no better chance to do it, Mister Bug threw his yo-yo in the air. “ _Lucky Charm!_ ”

“What’s this, a fashion maga-” A spotted plastic sleeve like the one from Dark Owl had fallen into his arms. Opening it revealed one of those issues from a girl’s magazine about clothes and make-up. It featured _him_ in various poses and positions, making a number of different faces. "Hilarious."

Of course, he knew exactly _how_ to use it. If that sign from earlier was an indication of anything, he had just what he needed to catch her off guard. That didn't mean he wouldn't feel like a complete ass about it though. The universe really _did_ hate him it seemed.

"Hey Princess," he called cheekily, waving the magazine in the air. He had it open to a particular picture of him that gave a look of absolute betrayal. "I don't think you'd want to break the trust of the guy you _like_ , right?"

" _ **GIVE THAT TO ME!!!**_ " She bellowed as she went to snatch it right out of his palm. One of her sleeves rode up her arm, revealing a bracelet on her wrist. The beads might have turned a uniform, black color, but that didn't mean he hadn't recognized it. He felt flattered that even now, years later and despite a rough patch in their friendship, she was _still_ wearing the charm that he had given her.

With a quick swipe of his other hand, he snapped the string right off her. The beads scattered multiple directions before a black butterfly flew out of one of them. Mister Bug readied his yo-yo. "Time to deakumatize you, Marinette!"

He launched the projectile, which captured the bug before it got away. Reeling back the yo-yo, he caught it in his hand. " _Gotcha._ Bye-bye little butterfly."

The now pure white insect flew away from him. He then rolled up the magazine he had and tossed it into the air. The last thing he wanted was to see his lady see the damage she had caused. " _Miraculous Mister Bug!_ "

The swarm of ladybugs flew all around, fixing the billboard and snapping people back to their senses. Marinette, who had fallen to the ground, was surrounded by a burst of black bubbles before returning to her original state. She began to stir as he walked over.

"Looks like the princess has awoken from her slumber." In a quick motion, he picked her up bridal style. She opened her eyes and gapped at him. He couldn’t help but grin at her in his usual way, probably for the first time in a long while.

"C-chat?! What are you- when did you- _how_ did you…!!" Marinette sputtered in his grasp but made no attempt to pull away from him. She did look around at the people now gawking at them. Mister Bug politely asked them to step back and let the hero take care of things, before he returned his attention to the girl in his arms

"I'll explain everything to you but right now isn't the time." He gave the blunette a reassuring smile before adjusting her a little. The blond was now prepared to leap away from the scene in a quick but also flashy manner. It was the least he could do. "Come on, let's get you home, Princess."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, here it is, the akuma fight. I hope I was able to do the action scenes at least well enough. Next chapter is going to be the longest one thus far as it deals with quite a bit of conversation.
> 
> If any artist out there wants to try and depict Trust Breaker, I say go for it. My art ability isn't so good that I was able to do so myself.
> 
> Have a nice day/night!!


	5. Penny For Your Thoughts

The walk home was awkward to say the least. Marinette had opened her mouth more than once in an attempt to say something, _anything_ , to her partner. She could only gap like a suffocating fish before that stupid cat would give a hearty chuckle and tell her, once again, that they could talk later. Damn him and his _consideration_!

They continued on like that as she tried not to wallow in her own shame and guilt. She knew that it had been coming, that she couldn't fight akumatization off forever but hell if she hadn't fought until the last second. That didn't mean it still didn’t sting that she hadn't been strong enough. If everyone had found out that one of Paris' own superheroes had fallen from grace, would they ever even forgive her?

Such thoughts swam in her brain, drowning out reality. It was the chime of the bakery bell that brought her back, as she met her parent’s worried gazes and felt Chat's firm hold tighten on her a little. No words were spoken as she was rushed upstairs with her mom, the male superhero still carrying her.

She was placed down on the living room couch, blankets brought over to wrap herself in, before a random show was selected on the television. Chat sat next her, talking about mindless little things while her maman went back and forth from the kitchen to the bakery. Within minutes, she had come over with a tray of steaming cocoa and the best sweets they had to offer.

Marinette wasn't hungry but she forced herself to thoughtlessly nibble on a cookie. Her partner had promptly shut his mouth by then as he was busy stuffing it with goodies. Hearing the soft clink of dishes being cleaned, she knew her mom was taking any excuse she could to just could to hover closely. That's when she became keenly aware that they were _waiting_ for her to speak.

“Maman…” She tried to keep the welling tears at bay but a few fell right into her cup. Her mother immediately went to her side, holding her close. Marinette burst into tears, not able to hold it in any longer. “....Today went _so_ horribly.”

“Oh Honey, what happened?” Her mom asked but the teenager couldn’t find the words to express what was wrong. The older woman had been right, there was far too much on her plate. Then there was the whole Lila issue, that Marinette hadn’t talked to her parents about since she was nearly expelled from school. She had convinced herself that it was her matter entirely, that they didn’t need to bother with her school drama. When it became clear that she couldn’t answer, Mister Bug spoke up.

“Her friend mentioned her being bullied today at school.” Chat couldn’t hide the raw emotion from his voice. She knew that he would likely be upset at how things turned out, as he had tried his best to be there for her when it counted, but she hadn’t expected the misery, guilt, and pain as he spoke. “It looks like it might have gone on for a while… I’m so sorry for not noticing it sooner.”

“Kitty… you couldn’t have known the full extent of it. You’re not at fault.” Even if he was the person she thought was behind the mask, she had already forgiven him either way. Adrien had never dealt with a situation like this and he was also struggling with his own problems. His advice of taking the high road might have been _wrong_ , but it came from a well-meaning place. There was no way she could blame him for that.

“...No, I should have done so much more.” It seemed that she couldn’t convince her kitty otherwise. She would have to talk sense into him later then, when her own emotional state wasn’t so poor. The teen girl then looked over to her mother, who hadn’t spoken a word. The look of utter heartbreak was enough to tell the girl that she had messed up in some way, in not reaching out to her parents more.

“Maman-” The older woman cut her off in a hug, shaking. She was the one that had quickly caught on that something was going on with Marinette’s life and had been implementing steps to improve the situation. However, she only ever saw one side of the issue, her daughter overworking herself. “...I’m sorry for not telling you about my school life.”

“I’m more upset at myself for not seeing it sooner. I knew you were stressing about _something_ but… it seems I didn’t push hard enough to see what the matter was.” The older woman frowned but comforted her child nonetheless. “I’ll do what I can to help you through this. First things first is looking for a new school.”

“...That’s the thing, maman, I don’t _want_ to transfer schools.” Both of them gave incredulous looks. "It's almost the end of the year and, if I leave now, I would be dumping a ton of responsibility on other people."

"Are you sure, Honey?" She understood her mother's concerns. Something like this could just as easily happen again, given Lila's track record. Marinette just needed to be more careful going forward.

"I can handle it." Now that her emotions had been let out and the looming threat of a new Hawkmoth appearing was over with, there was quite a bit less stress. "Is it okay if I head up to my room for now? Dad probably needs you back in the bakery."

"I'll take her up there and see myself out. I need to see if school ended up being cancelled." Chat said as he picked her up again and carried up the stairs. It definitely wasn't necessary but Marinette didn't think she could convince him otherwise.

Mister Bug gently set her in her bed before reaching for his own earlobes. She quickly grabbed his hand, stopping him. “Wait! You can’t just walk out of the bakery _detransformed_ like that!”

“...Okay.” She knew her partner well enough to know that wasn’t the case, though she had panicked for a reason to not receive the Ladybug earrings back. They both knew that. “I’ll return tonight to give them back to you.”

“Alright,” was all she could say. He properly tucked her in and gave a sloppy bow, some bit of a smile on his face.

“...Don’t worry Bug, I promise to be actually there for you this time.” He left her room with not another word. She just stayed where she was for a while, not doing anything but being lost in her own thoughts. She tried to get some sleep, but something else was bothering her.

Marinette was a stickler for details. She kind of had to be, being an artist and would-be fashion designer. If something was just a tad bit off, it could really bother her. It usually only amounted to her own things, as she liked to keep everything neat and orderly when her room wasn’t a mess of projects. So something about her surroundings had thrown her for a loop.

That’s when she noticed it. One of her vanity’s drawers was cracked open- the center one that she didn’t use at all. It was the same place she had put the ladybug earrings after her first attempt at being a hero. She climbed off her bed and went down the ladder, walking over the offending furniture.

She opened the drawer, and upon seeing what was inside, loudly cursed. “ _That dumb, stupid cat!!!_ ”

\---

Mister Bug had made his way out of the bakery before discreetly going into a nearby alleyway. He poked his head in to make sure no one was nearby before finally letting out a breath. After taking longer than necessary, he said the detransformation words. " _Spots off_."

"Thank you, Adrien." Those were the first words Tiki spoke once she emerged from the earrings. Said boy gave a confused look, blinking.

"What for?" It wasn't like he did anything, really. He only just solved a problem that he helped create. Even then, not everything was fixed, not yet at least.

"For saving my Chosen. If you weren't there, I don't know what would have happened to Marinette. So thank you, for what you did and what you are doing currently, to help her." Adrien just sighed, shaking his head.

"I wasn't there when she needed me most. I feel like I failed her, as a friend _and_ a partner. The only things I can do now are handle the fallout and convince her to take her miraculous back."

"You'll get through this, both of you." Tiki patted his cheek in comfort. It was very different than Plagg's means of support. Then again, he had his own ways of going about things, and could be helpful when he wanted to be. He still appreciated it.

"I hope so." His gaze flickered to her window before he began walking towards the school. The street had been deserted, much like how it was after the very first akuma attack. As he walked, Adrien felt unease well in the pit of his stomach.

It wasn't hard to find out that the rest of the school day had been cancelled. He located his bodyguard parked out in front. The Gorilla gave his own version of a concerned look before grunting and driving the model home.

No words were spoken on the drive back to the mansion. Adrien was sometimes grateful that the Gorilla hardly spoke. The boy just stared out the window the entire time, lost in thought.

The sense of unease he felt quickly turned into an empty numbness as his bodyguard parked and they walked inside. It felt so easy to fall back into the familiar rhythm that his life had succumbed to for quite a while. He could go mute for the better part of a day and no one would bat an eye at this point. Stiffly walking down the opening hall, Adrien was more than comfortable with the idea of locking himself in his room until he needed to head back to the bakery.

“-And _where_ were you, young man?!” His aunt had other plans though. It was enough to snap him back to his senses as he turned to face her. “The first akuma attack in a while happens and I find out no one knows where you were?! You better explain yourself!”

“...I.” Adrien tried to think quickly. “The akuma! She’s a friend of mine… she kinda well, has a thing for me. She ended up taking me somewhere else while she fought Mister Bug.”

It was a horrible lie and one he felt really bad about. He didn’t really want to reduce Marinette’s feelings for him to being an unhealthy obsession. Still, his aunt seemed to accept this. “...Very well.”

After still being scolded a bit and a promise to do better in the future, Adrien finally headed up to his room. Tiki zoomed out of his pocket while he ordered some room service of sweets. He lounged on his couch, mindlessly playing some videogames as he waited for the hours to tick by. Soon enough, it became dark and he once again transformed.

Mister Bug leapt out the window for the final time, heading to the bakery.

\---

After Chat had gone, Marinette took the cat ring and placed it in the miracle box. She figured that Plagg wouldn't mind being with the other kwamis until his chosen returned. With nothing else to do, she began to work on other projects that she had sidelined for some time. While she technically was supposed to do nothing but rest, some habits die hard and she had already napped prior to starting anything.

Keeping her mind away from the events of that day, the teen aimlessly worked until the natural light in her room darkened. She bid her parents goodnight as they checked on her one last time before heading to bed. Like any other night, Marinette prepared to turn in herself, knowing full well she wouldn't get to sleep for another couple hours at the very least.

It was fifteen past the twenty-first hour before she heard a familiar tapping on her skylight. Mister Bug gave a small smile from the window as he patiently waited to be let in. Not wanting to leave him out in the cold, even in a magical bug suit, Marinette opened the hatch.

Her partner climbed in, carefully avoiding touching her bed, before greeting her with one his typical grins. He must have been practicing in the mirror, since this one didn't look near as sloppy as his previous ones he had been. "I wanted to ask you a question, Bug."

"Oh?" She had gone over to the miracle box to retrieve the cat miraculous. Now which drawer was it…

"How did you know I was Cat Noir?" Even though she had expected this question, it still managed to catch her off guard. Marinette paused in her search, a look of contemplation on her face.

"...I didn't. For all I know, I gave my earrings to Adrien." There might have been implications of Chat being him, but she knew there could still be other-

" _Spots off_." Adrien cut her line of thought by detransforming, proving her intuition correct. The action left her grasping for words to speak. It was one thing to _think_ a theory to be right, it was another to actually know. “So, how did you know?”

“Fine. I didn’t know for _certain_ but… I had a strong suspicion.” Marinette sighed in admittance. It was a secret that she had been keeping for quite some time and, the more that she had been around him, the more she felt bad for not telling him. “...When your father was defeated, you had been trying to keep a straight face the entire time, but your ears and tail betrayed you. 

“With your ears flat against your skull and your tail slack on the ground, you looked rather timid and small as you approached a passed out Gabriel. Then something seemed to snap… and you ran away. It was so _unlike_ you to leave like that. It was as if you had forgotten my presence after the fight or maybe you panicked because it would have been weird for me to _not_ find Adrien after the fact. When I saw you again after you had detransformed, you acted like you had already _known_ that Gabriel had been Hawkmoth. That alone was just… the first of many clues.”

“...Sorry, I was trying to be discreet as possible but.. Looks like that didn’t pan out.” Adrien had given her a miserable look, like guilt was eating at him. Marinette would have none of that.

"Don't apologise for that, you dumb cat! It's not _your_ fault that the poor excuse of a person that your father was, also happened to be a supervillain! I don't think I would've handled it any better either."

He gave a small, if sad smile at that. "Anyway, you were also on lockdown for roughly the same amount of time and you both… as different as you act in the mask, you both broke down the same way. You pushed your friends away and isolated yourself. It was hard not to see the similarities...

"...Then, two weeks after the fight. I had come across you on a rooftop, alone. You were crying as you asked ' _why it had to be him_ ' aloud and that's when I started putting two and two together. I wished I had approached you that night… maybe I could have actually gotten you to open up to me. I would have tried to reach out more but then.. The Lila drama got worse..."

"...Looks like we both need to work on being better friends. I really shouldn't have… left you alone to handle Lila. I'm sorry." 

“It’s fine, Adrien, really. You had been homeschooled up until the year she showed up. You hadn’t dealt with school drama before and I understand that. In any case, I should probably get your ring back to you." Marinette walked over to him, Cat Miraculous in hand. She didn't feel up to properly presenting it to him like she had with the other members of their team, so she just held it out to him. After a moment of him not reaching out to it, she gave an exasperated look.

"...I want you to accept the Ladybug earrings back first," he said simply. She had known this was the game he was playing the moment she had found the cat ring in her vanity. "I mean it, Bug. I still want you as my partner and I am not above keeping this Miraculous if I have to."

"...What if I just find another Cat Noir then? That way you would still be a hero _and_ have a partner." Her tone had been serious, though he showed no signs of giving in.

"Oh, but you wouldn't do that." He instantly called her bluff. "You couldn't replace me as Chat."

With that stupid grin, he knew that he had already won. Marinette sighed, conceding. "...Fine."

They swapped miraculous, idlingly wondering what to do next. There was more to talk about, they both knew, but neither made an attempt to continue. It was the sound of Tiki eating one of her cookies that drew Marinette's attention.

There was a sudden rumble of a stomach that sounded, then another from across the room. One looked away while the other rubbed the nape of his neck. “...We should probably go eat something.”

“Yes, we should.”

\---

Adrien sat at the dining table in the dark as Marinette rummaged through the kitchen, the light of her phone flashing around as she put together a couple plates of food. It was nice having his ring back, even if it wasn’t currently on his finger. He would have his reunion with Plagg later, as the model was fairly certain that the kwami would only ruin the current mood. Not that it was really a good one in particular, even if they had talked some things out. A stiff tension still lingered in the air. 

His classmate must have sensed this as she began to speak. "We should really think about restarting patrol properly soon."

"Oh, bug," he sighed a little. It was just like her to still put other things first, even before her own well-being. Old habits die hard after all.

"Since you have been out practically everyday for a couple of weeks, I can take tomorrow night. Maybe even the next day two for good measure-" It seemed she hadn't heard him and was continuing on one of her spirals.

"Bug." He tried to interrupt once again.

"-We can switch every school day from there or we could do a day together and switch every couple days or so-"

" _Ladybug!_ " He had gotten out of his seat to get her attention. When she gave a shocked look, Adrien became flustered. "Sorry. It's just- I know I won't be able to convince you from going to school tomorrow. At least let me take patrol for now. Please."

"B-but I…!" Marinette stuttered, looking down for a moment. "You don't know how much I miss being Ladybug right now…"

"Then join me on weekends then! That way there is less for you to stress about." Now more than ever did he understand the feeling of needing an escape. To crave the freedom that the mask gave and actively seek out the rush from running across the rooftops had brought. Still, there was time to do that later, when it wouldn’t impact her sleep schedule more than it had been.

"...Okay. I will still join you whenever I feel like I can handle it, alright?" Marinette walked over to the table with the food. She placed a platter in front of him.

"...Of course." He couldn't deny her that, especially since she was the currently guardian. The two ate in silence as there was no other matter they wished to discuss. By the time the next hour struck, Adrien had put on his ring and transformed. He saw to it that Marinette was tucked into bed before exiting from her skylight.

When he returned to his room that night, he gave Plagg extra of his favorite cheese before falling asleep himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember when I said this chapter was the longest? I was wrong, chapter eight going to be longer.
> 
> Also, the premise for this story was "what if Marinette suspected Adrien being Cat Noir?" and started writing from there. The talk between Marinette and Adrien was one of the scenes I had in mind from the start.
> 
> Anyway, have a nice day/night!


	6. Insult to Injury

Marinette groaned when she woke to her first alarm. She knew that if she managed to oversleep too much this morning, she likely wouldn’t be going to school that day. That, however, was unacceptable to the teen. Lila would then know that she had won, that she had managed to not only take away most of her friends but even scare the blunette out of her own school. It might not have been the healthiest decision at the moment, but it was not like she could miss more school due to her Ladybug responsibilities.

That is why she begrudgingly pulled herself out of bed and went to her bathroom to freshen up. She was an emotional mess from the talk last night and she still hadn't come to terms that she was right. Adrien was Cat Noir. It was both equally satisfying and also terribly frightening at the same time.

All these years, it had been her long time crush at her side. It was him that was her goofy, laid-back partner. The same one that spouted lame puns, joked at every opportunity, but also had her back when it mattered most. The very same who had… constantly confessed to her in their first year together.

The heroine didn't know how to feel about that in particular. On one hand, that bit of knowledge was embarrassing enough, but also she knew it would have mortified her just a couple years prior. It felt like she was on some sort of reality television show or cartoon with how convoluted it all was. She had been rejecting Adrien all this time!!

There was also another uncomfortable fact that this brought to light but Marinette wasn’t quite ready to give it any attention. Though, she couldn’t prevent a flash of blue and white flashing in her mind before she quickly shook her head. Ridding herself of that current train of thought, the blunette finished brushing her teeth and started on her hair.

She began to plan her day strategically. It would be best if she got there early and stayed out of people's way for the time being. Adrien had promised that he would be there that morning just in case something happened. This was the first akuma attack in a while so she knew that everyone would be extra upset already, especially since she was the cause of all it.

With her hair in her neat pigtails, Marinette quietly exited the bathroom and snuck down the hall. She knew her mother would likely bar her from going to school that day so she had to leave as early as she could. Since her parents had to run the bakery, both were rather busy in the first couple hours after they woke. Her mom would only come upstairs after the bakery was opened properly and the first morning rush was over.

This let getting through the upstairs flat rather easy. It was passing through the downstairs bakery that would be the harder challenge. Madame Sabine Cheng had eyes like a hawk and while her dad might not pay as much attention, his size alone could block her from leaving. Marinette would have to resort to her Ladybug skills to make it out, _alive_.

...Okay, maybe she was having way too much fun with this. The blunette had let her thoughts focus on the more whimsical and carefree side of things instead of the gloomy, dark scenarios of earlier. Yes, she did feel like a six year old playing pretend but it also let her momentarily forget some things, which made her feel a little better. She just had to stay positive and not let her negative emotions get to her.

With that in mind, Marinette carefully made her way down the stairs to the bakery. She knew her clumsy nature would get in the way if she tried rushing past her parents. Keeping a close eye on them, she got her opportunity as a particularly impatient customer addressed her dad and her mom’s back had been turned towards the front. It was when she was half-way to the door when her mom’s voice made her freeze.

“...And where do you think you’re going, young lady?” Sabine looked at her daughter with a knowing and serious look. She wanted her daughter to be able to rest and get the help she needs, not be thrust back into the fray so soon after what happened.

“ _Goingtoschool, seeyoulater, bye_ ,” was all she could say as she ran through the front door. She knew that if they two of them could, they would have gone after her. However, the flood of the morning rush was enough to hold them back long enough. Still, Marinette noticed her mother exit the bakery for a short moment when she had already been across the street, yelling after her to stay safe.

\---

It was the sound of his third alarm that woke Adrien. Once upon a time, the boy would often wake before the sun woke, when _that man_ expected him up bright and early. Even with his schedule still packed as it ever was, he now had the freedom to choose when he got up. This led to a lot of late mornings, especially after the long nights of patrols he had been having, and that was only _when_ he slept in his own bed.

Groaning, the model contemplated just going back to sleep. He remembered vaguely that there was some reason for him to get up and go to school but he couldn’t recall what it was for the life of him. Oh well… if it wasn’t clicking in his mind then it must not be important enough. With that thought set aside, he slowly closed his eyes.

“...Kid,” he heard Plagg say as the kwami nudged him. The teen just groaned again and turned onto his side so the godling would fly off of him. Not taking too kindly to this, the tiny cat rammed himself into his chosen’s head. “It’s time to get up.”

“Go away Plagg.” Adrien batted the being away lightly. He was still too tired to think correctly, especially since he didn’t get a lot of sleep last night…

“Didn’t you say you would be there to comfort your girlfriend this morning?” Several things flashed in his head all at once. Marinette. Ladybug. The akuma fight the previous afternoon. The talk they had until the wee hours of the morning-

“ _-Shit_.” Adrien’s eye shot open before he tried to scramble out of bed. He tripped on his thick, smooth comforter and fell, ungracefully, to the floor. Several more curses fled from his mouth as he pounced to his feet and made a mad dash to his bathroom. Ever the model, he turned his shower on hot and hopped in after removing his clothing.

After about twenty minutes or so, his scalp had been thoroughly scrubbed and he had successfully wiped off any grim that he was sure remained on him since sleeping on rooftops. He had been letting his general appearance somewhat wither when he wasn’t doing any shoots. After changing into his daily outfit, he went onto properly styling his hair. His phone began to ring as he was brushing his teeth.

“Hello, Adrien Agreste here, what can I do for you?” Adrien gave his standard, polite intro as he hadn’t checked caller id nor did he hear the familiar ringtones he had set for friends and family. This meant that it was most likely business related so he had to act like his mouth didn’t currently have toothpaste in it.

“Adrien darling,” came the fake tones of delight from one Audrey Bourgeois. There were only a select few things that Cloe’s mother would want from him. “It seems I have an open spot for a model in a photoshoot this morning.”

The tone she was using insinuated to him that it wasn’t a mere suggestion. Still, he would have to turn it down, for Marinette’s sake. “...I appreciate the offer, Madame Bourgeois, but I-”

“Ah, ah, _ah_. I only agreed to hire you as a part-timer because of what happened with Gabriel. I’ll have my secretary text you the address but I expect you to be here within the next _twenty minutes_.” Her sweet velvety voice slowly turned harsh as she exaggerated each and every word. “Also, don’t worry, I _should_ have you out before you and Clover get to school.”

“...Yes madame,” was all he could say. With a heavy sigh, Adrien forwarded the text to his bodyguard. ‘ _Hopefully this won’t make me late for class…_ ’

\---

She stood right in front of the door of her classroom, visibly tense. Marinette had been holding her breath as she walked into school, doing what she could to avoid people. This was the hardest part for her, facing her own classmates. She grew to hate disappointing people. Not only because of her duties as Ladybug protecting Paris, but because she constantly had to lie for the safety of not only herself, but also her own peers.

That’s why she came to detest Lila so quickly. The blunette couldn’t imagine so easily lying to the people around her but to also _use_ others on top of that. Still, the Italian had enough of a chance to stop this, so the heroine didn’t necessarily feel bad with how she treated the girl. The only thing that she could really do now is expose Lila for the liar she was. Marinette wasn’t sure where to start as her own credibility was currently trashed.

Uncertain how to proceed without her partner, she would have to wait until further notice. The teen closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before opening the classroom door. She stood there stoically for a few moments of silence until she opened her eyes to an empty room. Right, she had come early for a reason. Without wasting any more time, she quickly went to her desk at the far right corner.

Pulling out her Miraculous text, Marinette began to study more of the language. Master Fu had left behind translation notes of what he could remember from being taught. She had to then go to the kwamis for the rest of the information she had. It wasn’t complete by any means but she could confidently read off of the book of heroes and maybe even hold conversation. This was all in preparation to make for her to visit the temple of the guardians after she graduated.

It was something she would have to inform Adrien of later, when the opportunity came. He didn’t like being kept in the dark after all and she knew he would probably try taking some of the load of guardianship onto himself if need be. That, too, was something to consider, would it be beneficial for her partner to get training as well or would it impede on his life too much?

Groaning, the blunette decided to put that on the back burner for now. She continued to work on her studies as her peers trickled in. Max was the first to arrive and while he was seemingly put off by her, he didn't say anything. Rose and Juleca walked in next, hand in hand, but didn't regard her. Ivan and Mylene were next, causing the three girls to start gossiping amoung each other. Upon entering the room, Alix gave a cool, if unexpected greetings towards her.

Those students in particular she wasn't really worried about. Marinette stiffened as Alya, Nino, and Lila appeared. They didn't seem to notice her at first as they were too deep in conversation. It was your average talk of video games and movies, with the Italian interjecting some fabrication of knowing the people involved. The tension in the air was thick as half the class watched in anticipation for what was going to happen next.

Of course, it was Lila who started it by hiding pitfully in fear behind Alya upon seeing Marinette at her desk. The dark skinned girl then got this stern look on her face when she was able to outright punch someone before Nino thought better about that, and held his girlfriend back. After a few moments the two were crowded around Lila as she sat down like some kind of fragile doll about to shatter.

After being glared daggers by her fellow classmates, Marinette shrunk into her seat. It was nearly enough to get her to think that maybe she was in the wrong- that she was the bad person in this twisted scenario. However, Tiki had poked out of her purse and did what she could to comfort her chosen in such a confined space without being seen. The class seemed to take a very reluctant sigh of relief as the tension passed and things turned back to relative normal.

That was, of course, when Adrien walked in the room, right before the bell. He held two cups of to-go coffee in his hands, his face still very much tired and pale. However, he wore a small, contemplative smile on his face and seemed to be a little happier then he had been in a long while. Lila gave a dubious grin at this, apparently using this as her chance to try and ‘make up’ with the model. “Hey Adrien, I wanted-”

Only for him to walk coldly past, not even taking any effort in addressing her. It was an action someone of Adrien’s status as a celebrity would be expected to pull for not liking a person. However, it was so very out of character for the person that was genuinely the nicest guy in class, that everyone else was left wondering why. They collectively thought back to the prior day in which he had yelled at her for tripping Marinette.

Adrien continued on his way up the steps until he got to the last row and turned to the left. He sat next to the blunette, offering her one of the cups. “Sorry I wasn’t here earlier, unplanned impromptu photoshoot with Madame Bourgeois. Did I miss anything?”

“...Nothing too bad, other than being noticed.” Marinette said quietly as she sipped her coffee. She gave a melancholy look before the teacher walked into the room. Class began as she tried her best to stay focused and keep on task.

\---

Adrien was cursing himself for taking the modelling job. The way Marinette had responded to him after arriving told him enough. While it didn’t seem like anything physical happened, the way Lila quivered throughout class set him on edge. She was _definitely_ milking something or other.

Class droned on as he did what he could to be there for his friend. Things were still rather awkward between them as they tried to work as deskmates. She would still mutter and stammer around him and he seemed more than a little lost for words as they interacted. It was as if his partner was so close yet so far away from him at the same time.

The bell rang while Adrien and Marinette waited for the other students to filter out before they made their way to the next period. He tried his best to desway anyone from approaching them with heresy and gossip in the halls but she was still very clearly affected by all of it. By the time lunch rolled around, the blunette was heading to the front door while the blond followed her.

“Adrien… I think I’ll take the rest of the day off,” she said, not looking at him. He frowned as he tried not clenching his fists, upset.

“Go and get some rest, Mari.” The model was still torrent of emotion. He was still furious about Lila, sad to see his bug seem so small right in front of him, confused on how to continue further, and most of all, disappointed in himself. That he wasn’t nearly there enough for her. “We’ll figure this out, together.”

“...Yes, together.” She looked back at him for a moment before heading out the front door and down the school steps. He watched her go across the street and right into the bakery, only turning around when she was safely home. Walking across the quad, he had all intention to just walk to his next class and simply wait for the bell without eating. That was squandered as he was approached by Nino and Alya, Lila nowhere in sight.

“Hello Nino, Alya.” He was nowhere near mad enough to not properly address them. While he understood defending someone they thought was rather unfortunate, despite supposedly knowing a bunch of famous people and travelling the world, he could almost as easily fault them for throwing Marinette under the bus like they did. Almost, he was just guilty as them, if not more so. “What do you need?”

Adrien, of course, already knew why they were there. They probably even knew that he knew what the pair was going to ask. It was only politeness and familiarity that kept both sides from being blunt. “...We want to know what your beef with Lila is.”

“She’s a liar and a fraud, as far as I am concerned.” It was very much unlike him to speak so coldly but that is how it came out. He was reminded of his cousin and his father at that moment, shuddering slightly.

“You’re only saying that because you have a bias for Marinette,” Alya immediately refuted. Oh did this just ignite a fire within his veins. He had a feeling she had used a similar tactic with disregarding their classmate. The one who had just been akumatized and they had yet to do a thing to make sure she was alright or even get her side of the story. “She probably told you after her stunt yesterday.”

“...No, I’ve known that Lila was a liar since near the beginning and it wasn’t exactly Marinette who brought that to light for me.” Actually, it was but they did not need to know that nor did he know at the time it was her anyway. It did explain why his partner was acting so strange that day though.

“Who was it then?!” Alya nearly shouted angrily. “I want to see _actual_ proof of these facts before I’ll believe anything.”

That was quite very ironic considering. Adrien just sighed, running a hand through his hair, gathering his thoughts. “It was Ladybug actually… Lila tried to make up some lie claiming she was one of the miraculous superheroes. Mi- Ladybug must have been passing by the park because she confronted us, saying that none of that was true.”  
“...If you knew then why didn’t you say anything??” Nino rightly looked upset with his best friend. “Especially if you knew for that long?!”

“...I knew what she did was wrong but I thought that, if no one got hurt, everyone would eventually find out about her and move on.” He rubbed the back of his neck in a guilty sigh. It was his inaction that led to all of this- if he had warned everyone sooner, then nothing like this would have happened. “But then…. I found out that she _was_ hurting someone, Marinette. The next time I give Lila any amount of attention, is the same moment I smack her in the goddamn face.”

He walked away from the two after that. It was bad enough that Rossi had done this to a close friend of his but now, knowing what he did, made it all the worse. No one, absolutely fucking _no one_ , hurt his partner like that. Adrien Agreste was seeing red.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Adrien is still blaming himself but some of that anger is has been directed right at Lila. If he seems a little ooc, I have a little explanation next chapter.
> 
> Have a great day/night!


	7. To Whip A Cat

"Kid, you have to calm down," Plagg said immediately after Adrien entered the classroom and slammed his hands on his desk. Said teen ignored him, focusing on his own thoughts more than anything. His breathing was quite heavy. "I'm being serious here, you can't let the ring influence your actions."

"...w...what about the ring?" He asked somewhat lamely. His thoughts continued to twist and twirl around this whole mess. Pent up emotions were flaring at his fingertips and he had to hold himself back from punching the nearest wall.

"The Cat Ring amplifies negative emotions! These thoughts of punching Lila right in her face _might_ be amusing but they aren't _you_ , kid!" In a rare act of care, the godling flew up to the teen’s face and tried to get Adrien to focus on him. The boy’s green irises stared at him in confusion.

“...Why would the Miraculous do something like that?” They were supposed to be these all powerful gems capable of saving the world, so why would it have such a negative effect on the user? Did the other jewels do something similar? Would he have to worry that this might affect his lady?!

“As I said before kid, you have to keep calm. It’s only really the Cat Miraculous that does it, the ring can be kinda funny in that way…” Plagg said somewhat in disdain. “Noorou and Dusuu might have a history of being misused, but I hold the record for having the worst users.”

“...Really? What happened to them??” Adrien was curious, Plagg rarely spoke of his other Chosen. He only spoke of some of the good ones in passing, without going into much detail about them. The model had always wondered why, other than just chalking it up to the godling’s personality of course.

“The power of destruction is simply too much for some people to handle,” the cat sighed. “Most didn’t even start out that way. If you had more than say, two of any other miraculous, then there is a chance you can become corrupted. With the Cat Ring however, you only really need one.”

“...Oh.” Silence hung in the air as neither were sure what to say at that point. Although things had now become awkward, it was apparent that Adrien had calmed down. “I won’t… I promise not to become corrupted like past users, Plagg.”

“You better not, kid.” The kwami flew away from his face as the boy finally decided to sit down. Both remained quiet for a while as the lunch period pressed onward. Before the bell, the model decided to speak up.

“...There has to be another reason you brought this up now.” Plagg gave him a pointed look. “You mentioned it yourself that it would be funny if I actually _did_ punch Lila in the face, which implies that you would have waited otherwise. Why?”

“...I just felt it was about time I told you about these things,” he said rather vaguely before the bell rang and the being flew right into his shirt pocket. Other students filed into the room before the late bell rang and class began.

\---

“Master, please tell Stomp to stop being mean!” Mullo squeaked at Marinette, who was sitting on the floor of her room, studying the guardian text. Upon returning home early, the blunette had let the other kwamis out of the miracle box while she read. Her mother had only come in briefly to check on her.

"Stomp, be nice to poor Mullo." The little godlings ended up getting in little spats from time to time. It was never anything actually serious though.

"I was only just teasing her." The Ox said nonchalantly. The teen rolled her eyes a bit.

"You know how sensitive she gets. Now, no more teasing unless you want to go back in the miracle box." Handling the kwamis was a lot like watching a small classroom of kids at times, even if they were all supposed to be thousands of years older than her.

"...Fine." Stomp flew off to presumably roughhouse with Barkk. Marinette quietly sighed and shook her head before returning to her work. Some time passed before her forgotten phone began buzzing on her desk.

Frowning, the Blunette gave a skeptical look before walking over to her cell. There were three new text messages from Alya. A pit in her stomach twisted and she knew she shouldn't look at them, but she unlocked her screen and opened her messaging app anyway.

' _Hey girl…_ '

' _Just wanted to check that you're alright_.'

' _You know… after what happened yesterday_.'

Marinette just stared at her phone for a solid minute, unsure how to react. She might have still been mad Alya but she felt equally guilty for what she said as well. Eventually, her better judgement won out and she typed out a response.

' _...yeah, I just need some time to myself rn_.'

It was probably the best response she could give. Ultimately, she needed to calm down more before she could try to make amends. She also didn't want to be the one to apologise first, as that would just undermine what she had been through.

The Blunette couldn't help wondering what brought this on though.

\---

Adrien couldn't even find himself able to concentrate during class. Alya and Nino had left him alone the entire time, allowing for the model's brain to be largely absent from the lecture. Not even the teacher made more of an effort to engage him other than asking him to pay more attention only once.

The boy only barely registered the bell ringing before he got up and gathered his things. He had purposely taken his time so the other students could file out of the classroom. This seemed to be the wrong decision, however, as a certain Italian reentered the room. His body went stiff as he heard her walk over to him.

"You know Adrien, it's awfully rude to ignore people," she spoke to him practically in his ear. The male gritted his teeth as he focused all of his attention on meticulously organizing his things in his bag. Lila proceeded to give a flat look, unimpressed. "Fine then, do ignore me. Let's see how long you can last like that."

She had leaned onto him, nearly hanging off his shoulder. Adrien held his breath as his hands clenched in and out. He remembered what Plagg said though, not giving into the temptation to punch her then and there.

Eventually, Lila let go and began walking towards the door. She stopped and turned around for a brief moment. "You know, you really _are_ your father's son, Adrien."

With that, she left him feeling cold and shaken. It took several minutes for his kwami to break him from his stupor. Adrien wordlessly exited the room, trapped once again in his mind. Somehow, he made it to the Dupain-Cheng bakery in mostly one piece.

\---

Marinette had gone from studying the ancient text to working on a simple sewing activity. She knew she should technically not be doing anything right now but letting her mind endlessly wander was not helping either. That's why she decided to only do the less stressful tasks and leave her bigger projects for later.

It probably wasn't a good idea to do this in particular because, of course, she ended up pricking her thumb when knocking came from the trap door of her room. The kwamis all around her scattered in different directions as she swore loudly. It was just her luck that she ended up cutting right into her cuticle.

"...Are you okay, Buginette?" The door lifted slightly to reveal worried green eyes. It was _very_ like her partner to wait until he was invited in. How had she not seen it before, she didn't know.

"Yeah, just pricked myself while sewing. Come on in." The Blunette grabbed a spare cloth and wrapped her finger in it. When the godlings didn't immediately come out of hiding, she spoke up once more. "You guys can come out, it's only just Adrien."

Said model was swarmed by the kwamis as he attempted to steady a tray containing two plates stacked with food. Marinette went over and helped him set it down. "Your father insisted that I bring up something for both of us to eat."

"That definitely sounds like him." She handed a chocolate croissant before taking one half of a sandwich and taking a bite. Her classmate set his snack aside, more focused on watching each kwami get their favorite. She eyed him rather suspiciously. "If you don't eat what I gave you then I _will_ stuff it in your face."

Adrien blinked at her, as if processing that she was, indeed, speaking to him. He then picked up his favorite food and took an experimental nibble from it. She gave him a slightly cross look before he shoved more of it into his mouth. "It's good to see that you're feeling better," he said after swallowing.

"Yeah, getting away from school was _just_ what I needed." It helped getting away from all the drama. There were still problems she had to face but she could tackle them when she was ready. "What about you though, are you alright?"

"Me?" He asked rather dumbly. Just the fact that Plagg hadn't left his side all this time was telling. Something had to have happened and she was going to figure out what. "I'm just fine."

"Cat, you can't fool me. I know you're only pretending to be alright." She gave him one of her Ladybug looks, specifically the expression she used when he did something stupid. He appropriately flinched a little.

"...It was only Lila being Lila, I'll be alright." He tried to deflect before Marinette gave him a pointed stare. "Okay, okay. She just… compared me to my father."

"She did _WHAT?!_ " Now she was even more furious with the Italian. It wasn't already enough that she made her own life hell but heaven forbid she hurt her kitty too. "Imma do it, imma _strangle_ her."

"Calm down Bug, she isn't worth the aggravation!" Adrien gave a slightly panicked look which at least got her to stop wringing her hands together.

"... Alright, but we have to do something! Now that neither of us is going to let her get away with things, she'll only target us more." She couldn't sit back and do _nothing_ anymore. Not when her friends were being taken advantage of, even after everything.

"I agree but negative attention will only make her worse." Marinette frowned at him so he made sure to be careful what he said next. "I'm not saying we do nothing, just that we don't publically humiliate her. We can gather evidence to show the class of her lies and let them handle Lila on their own terms."

"...Okay. Guess I could try talking to Alya as Ladybug." The Blunette sighed lightly. "I probably should have already but… I didn't want to involve my secret identity in petty school drama."

"... We'll work through this, together." Her partner gave her one of his goofy smiles. Even if it hadn't reached his eyes yet, it was good to see him at least trying.

"Yes, together."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Cat Ring influencing negative emotions is my take on it being cursed.
> 
> I really need to work on my pacing for writing...
> 
> Have a nice day/night!


	8. Those In Glass Houses

Alya Césaire liked to think that she wasn't _too_ gullible. She had a keen eye for detail and a sharp sense for sniffing out a potential scoop. That's why she wanted to be a journalist so badly. She liked to stay informed almost as much as she liked spreading that information to others.

She had to admit though, she sometimes did get a _little_ ahead of herself when a juicy story fell into her lap. It also didn't help that she had an almost blind admiration for Ladybug and practically craved any kind of news of the superheroine. That was the reason she interviewed Lila for the Ladyblog upon learning they were actually best friends.

What the brunette didn't expect was for Marinette to not like her right off the bat. Typically, her friend was very kind and accepting, unless you made her mad. Then she could be a bit judgemental. That's why Alya assumed that she was just jealous, because Lila was competition for Adrien.

Things seemed to calm down between them for a while, up until a couple months ago. For some reason, Marinette had gone off the deep end when she accused their Italian classmate for aiding and abetting Hawkmoth. Lila was left in tears and the class began ignoring the blunette from then on.

" _Come on Alya, you have to believe me! That girl's insane!!_ " Her former friend pleaded with her. Alya was hearing none of it though.

After that… things went quiet. Marinette only interacted with people when it came to her duties as class rep. Kim or Alix might have made jabs at her expense, but it was nothing more than what she deserved. Still, Alya felt bad for her, and resolved to have her two classmates make up one way or the other.

The first attempt, the brunette used her position as deputy to set up a peace meeting with a teacher present. It had gone poorly immediately when Marinette refused to apologise. " _I'm not saying sorry to someone who doesn't deserve it_."

She had to go through detention and her parents being called before she was more or less was forced to give a written apology. It meant all of _nothing_ and didn't resolve anything. Alya would have to try another approach.

The second time, the brunette suggested to one of their teachers that the two should be paired during a school trip. That ended worse when both students ended up in a cat fight in the museum. Security had been called to break them up, though strangely Marinette was the only one actually bruised from the encounter.

Her last ditch effort was a party that included all of their classmates. Of course, that included Lila, but it was going to be focused on Marinette making amends with the rest of their peers rather than make her get along with the Italian. While the event still happened, the blunette still opted out.

Then came the following week, when Marinette had tripped on the stairs, blaming Lila. At that point, Alya was so done with this unnecessary drama. She confronted the blunette in the bathroom and the girl still had the nerve to get under her skin. "Where is your proof she isn't? Has she ever backed up anything she has ever said?! Or are you just blind because she's Ladybug 'friend' or whatever?"

"That's enough, Marinette! You probably don't even know Ladybug." Alya retorted despite the fact that her former friend managed to score her an interview early on. It had been forgotten in the heat of the moment.

"...Have you even asked her yourself? You know, like fact-check at least?!" That comment struck a nerve. It didn't matter anymore to Alya to try, Marinette was on her own at that point. No one questioned her journalistic integrity.

That's where she thought it should have ended. Marinette would continue to be stubborn and alone for the rest of the school year. Everyone would graduate, leaving things off on a sour note, though it couldn't be helped. That morning akuma attack was the first sign of things headed in a different direction.

The whole thing left Alya feeling rather conflicted. She almost wished she could have been there to see what happened for herself. Apparently, neither Ladybug nor Cat Noir could find the villain after it destroyed roughly an entire city block. They could only find the aftermath of it's explosions, leading them to believe it _was_ an akuma.

On one hand, this meant that Hawkmoth was back, even if it wasn't Gabriel Agreste anymore. Paris had to suffer from _another_ terrorist trying to destroy the city she loved, her home. On the other, it gave her more content for her blog, even if it felt a _little_ exploitative just thinking that.

Then there was the subsequent akumatization of Marinette that afternoon. It started from the gossip that sprung from the party the previous weekend. Even if Alya was disappointed in her not going, the brunette ended up sticking up for her, giving the excuse that she was too busy to attend. Her classmates began pondering what exactly made her _that_ busy so Lila chimed in some crude joke about the brunette _getting it on_ with other guys.

Somehow, this joke turned into a full blown rumor across school by that day. Alya was less inclined to believe it so when Marinette tripped in class and literal proof sprung from her bag, she wasn't sure _what_ to think. Had she known the blunette _at all?_

That's when the Asian girl broke down and practically bolted from the room. Then Adrien stood from his desk and _yelled_ at Lila. " _What the_ absolute hell is wrong with you, Lila?! Don't think I didn't see you trip her!!"

The model then ran after the room, screaming Marinette's name. The class was utterly silent for a good thirty seconds before the Italian spoke up. " _I don't know why he yelled at me, it was clearly an accident!_ "

" _Oh,_ bullshit _it was_." That's when Cleo retorted in her usual manner. No one was about to take her seriously as a couple people were already trying to comfort her. " _Lila_ obviously _just stuck her foot out at the right time, even Adrikins saw it. I bet she even planted those pile of condoms in her bag in the first place too_."

" _Why would she even do something like that?!_ " Alya immediately defended her friend sobbing in her arms. " _Lila's nothing like you, Cleo!_ "

" _You're right, she is_ nothing _like me. At least I don't pretend to like any of you, other than Adrikins and Sabrina of course. Ever heard of the phrase_ 'there's always a snake in the garden'? _Ya know, the idiom you idiots learned at age four? That's what Lila is, the conniving snake in the grass that bites anything in its way_."

" _What would she even gain from that though_?!" Alya continued to respond, when no one else would. "Face it Cleo, you just hate her for being a better person than you will ever be!"

" _The better question is what she_ wouldn't. _Why do you think she went after Dupain-Cheng first? She's the most popular kid in the class and wouldn't put up with her bull. You guys really don't know how good you had her. In fact, if she comes through that door akumatized right now, then it would literally be all your fault_."

As if on cue, screams could be heard from the hall. Their substitute teacher tried to calm the students down as the outside noise began to become louder as apparent struggles were happening on the other side of the wall. Everyone collectively hid under the school desks as the school went from chaotic uproar to utter silence in the matter of moments. Alya waited with bated breath as she hoped the looming threat would pass them by.

They weren't so lucky though, as the classroom door slammed open. Light footsteps sounded before stopping in front of one of the tables. There was a swishing sound before Kim screamed.

All hell broke loose.

Alya grabbed Lila's hand and tried to weave through the panicking students, while also trying to remain out of sight.. She got a good look at the akuma, who was stabbing people left and right. The look of utter contempt marred her features.

" _Please Marinette, this isn't you!_ " Rose tried to reason with her. The akuma was having none of it.

" _I'm not_ Marinette _anymore, I'm Trustbreaker now!_ " The villain growled before stabbing Rose with her weapon. Alya forced herself to look away as she tried to make it out of the classroom but other students were crowding the halls for some reason, reaching out and grabbing anyone who'd tried to escape.

" _I'm sorry, so sorry!!_ " The brunette heard Juleka cry before she too was stabbed. Lila ended up pointing out an abandoned chair and both of them ended up using it to push through the crowd. The two ran through the hall, nearly being caught by other students that seemed to be possessed. They made it outside and hastily made it down the steps to the courtyard, the door to the outside world within their sights.

“ _And where do you think you’re going_?” Before either of them could make it though, the akuma leapt down an entire build’s level with ease, landing right in front of them, blocking their way out. Alya stood her ground for a moment to think, particularly about other escape routes and fire exits. Gritting her teeth, the brunette was just about to go into action.

Only to feel a sharp push and pull from behind her, that knocked Alya right into the akuma. Marinette stood above her, a wicked grin on her face, her weapon at the ready. “ _It looks like your friend has betrayed and abandoned you. Don’t worry, you don’t need her anymore_.”

That was the last thing she remembered until the Magical Cure swept through the school, snapping her back into reality. Nino had given this rather unmanly cry and hugged her immediately. She would have then teased him for it if she wasn’t currently still reeling about what had occured..

Since she had been hit by the akuma and thus couldn’t record anything, the brunette had to look at official news sources to gather what happened. Apparently, the akuma fight lasted for about forty-five minutes or so, as Marinette had apparently gone into the streets of Paris by the time a hero appeared. That was probably the strangest thing that occurred though, as it was _Mister Bug_ that saved the day, _by himself_.

People immediately began wondering what happened to Ladybug until an official statement came from the superheroine that she had let her partner handle the akuma alone. No one knew why and there were already theories speculating the circumstances of her not being there. Normally, Alya would have joined into the discussion if her thoughts weren’t focused elsewhere.

At first, she was in complete denial. Lila had come to apologise to her after the fight, saying that she _accidentally_ knocked into her when the akuma was right in front of them. It didn’t feel quite right but she let it slide at the time.

Then the next day came, when she noticed Marinette sitting at her desk in class. She had just about to give the girl a stern talking to when Nino pulled her back. Right, she was probably still emotional after being akumatized and talking to her _now_ would only risk that happening again. She couldn’t help shuddering at the thought.

Right after that, Adrien came in. He still looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders but his face was far lighter than it had been in months. Alya was glad to see this at least, that things were getting better for him. She then noticed Lila stand up to greet him. “ _Hey Adrien, I wanted-_ ”

Said model proceeded to ignore her though as he walked up the classroom steps to Marinette in the back. He greeted the blunette, giving her one of the coffee cups he was holding. The Italian was left somewhat in shock before the teacher called her to take her seat. She somewhat gritted her teeth, frowning, before sitting back down, while the lesson began.

Adrien continued to stick around Marinette the entire morning, leaving Alya at a loss. She wasn't sure what to believe at this point so she did the only thing she could do, confide in her boyfriend. " _I don't get it Nino, why is he taking sides_ now _of all times?_ "

" _I don't know, Als. Adrien doesn't tend to get angry very often, you know that_." Alya thought back to the Felix incident, when she learned to never second guess the integrity of the model's good nature. " _Lila_ must _be at fault in his mind if she's on his shit list_."

" _We should go talk to him then_." Then they did, and found out that Marinette was apparently right all along. Lila was a liar, had bullied the blunette into Akumatization, and likely pushed Alya right at Trustbreaker. Guilt eating at her at this point, the bespeckled brunette texted her classmate.

_'Hey girl…'_

_'Just wanted to check that you're alright.'_

_'You know… after what happened yesterday.'_

She received a response a couple minutes later. _'...yeah, I just need some time to myself rn.'_

Marinette was still mad and she had all right to be. Alya would have to beg, grovel, and promise to be better before earning the blunette’s forgiveness if she ever hoped to be friends again. First things first, there was one more avenue that she wanted to clear up before then.

The opportunity presented itself that afternoon, when there was yet another explosion in Paris. The supposed bomb akuma had made his reappearance, choosing not to vanish this time. Both Ladybug and Cat Noir were struggling to fight the villain, as he managed to hold a victim hostage. The appearance of a Lucky Charm had the superheroine leaving the battlefield as her partner stalled for time.

Ladybug appeared right next to Alya some ten minutes later as she streamed the fight. The brunette had dropped her phone, causing it to crack onto the ground. Wordlessly, the hero handed her a spotted jewelry box, forgoing her usual speech. The school girl stood in place for a few moments, causing her idol to frown. “...Is something wrong?”

“...Shouldn’t I be the one asking that?” Just _looking_ at the other was enough to tell that something was not right. She was rather pale and shaky right in front of Alya, as if she might fall apart at any moment. "Seriously, you okay?? Come here, sit down for a minute."

Alya knew she probably shouldn't keep Ladybug from the fight for too long but she clearly needed a moment's rest. The superhero obliged her, sitting down with a deep sigh. Seeing her idol nearly crumble in front of her, reminded the brunette that she was only human.

The two of them sat in silence before Ladybug's yo-yo rang, presumably Chat Noir wondering where her partner was. His face appeared on the screen, though he was looking away and the camera was juttering up and down. "Buginette, I don't know how much longer I can hold him off. Please tell me that you found Rena."

“Yeah, we’re headed your way right now.” It was then that Alya noticed that Chat had traveled a significant distance from where he had been in front of her just fifteen minutes prior. Ladybug stood and looked over to her. “Come on, transform so we can go help him.”

Maybe a bit too hesitantly, the brunette nodded and opened the box in her hands. Trix flew out out of the necklace and greeted her. “Okay Trix, _let’s pounce_!”

\---

It only took a few minutes to locate Chat and the akuma. Bomb Squad was throwing projectiles at Chat, who was just barely just dodging them. Being held by one of the villain's arms was Lila, putting up a pitiful display of fear as she wasn't even bothering to look afraid.

"Ready for a little action?" Ladybug said in a poor attempt of humor. Alya nodded and readied to leap into action, waiting for the other's cue. " _Lucky Charm!_ "

A pair of bolt cutters landed in the spotted heroes arms. She looked at the object, then at Rena, and finally the akuma. "Okay, I need you to make a double of me and hide."

"Alright." The fox pulled out her flute and played a few notes. " _Mirage!_ "

Rena Rogue hid behind some debri as the faux Ladybug made her way over to Chat Noir, being careful to only dodge incoming explosions rather than actively fight. "Bug, where's Rena Rouge?"

Of course, the tom cat would ask this most blatant question. Rena would have to improvise, while keeping any rocks and bits of concrete from hitting her illusion. "I couldn't find her in time."

"But I thought you said-" He was promptly shut up by the look the fake gave him. It was the expression the heroine used when she got serious that Alya managed to capture. She felt a little bad when Chat visibly flinched. "Okay, what's the plan then?"

_Shit._ It was hard enough to keep up a complex illusion but even harder to come up with a plan off the fly. She would have to come up with one fast or the akuma would begin to suspect something was up. "We stall for time until we can place _where the akuma is_."

Rena hoped she was able to convey what she could through the illusion's subtle eye movements and voice inflection. Chat didn't seem to get the picture though, as he gave a confused look. "Didn't we already agree-"

"Where. The. Akuma. _Is._ Chat." That's when he finally saw the real Ladybug and gave off his trademark smirk. Great, he got with the program at least.

"Oh Bugaboo, you know I like messing around with you~!" He played off his earlier confusion as one of his jokes. He even began to hit debri to the side to keep the mirage from breaking.

Within moments, the real Ladybug managed to snip off the akuma's toolbelt. The black butterfly flew from it in an attempt to flee. The superhero skillfully threw her yo-yo. "No more evil doing for you akuma."

" _Reality!_ " Rena released her illusion. The faux Ladybug vanished in front of Chat, though he didn't seem to notice or care. He was already at his partner's side.

" _Miraculous Ladybug!_ " The heroine threw her lucky charm in the air which exploded in a flash of pink color. The Miracle Cure was already fixing the damage around them. With the beeping of her earrings, Ladybug turned to her male counterpart. "...Think you could collect Rena's miraculous for me?"

"Of course," Chat said, giving her a worried gaze. Without another word, the spotted hero hooked the ridge of a nearby rooftop before taking off. Both of them watched her go before the male turned towards Alya. "Alright Foxaline, time to go."

"What about her though? Shouldn't we make sure she's alright?" Rena pointed towards Lila, who was staring at them indignantly. Chat narrowed his eyes towards her.

" _Lila_ can get back on her own, I'm sure. Come on, let's go." Chat said sternly before simply vaulting away. Said Italian scoffed before giving Alya a pleading look. The fox could only give a small shrug before jumping away.

The cat brought her to an empty alleyway in a dead part of the city. He leaned against the wall of the building on the right, a shabby apartment complex. At least there was a subway entrance nearby, so she could make it back home on her own. She entered the alley but the first words out of her mouth weren't her detransformation phrase. "Tell me Chat, what's up with that girl?"

A silence followed that had Alya convinced that he wouldn't actually respond. She was about to detransform when the male finally spoke. "A lot of things actually. Bug and I have had a… _rough_ history with her."

"...What did she do?" The fox miraculous beeped and, with a flash of light, she was Alya again. She made no move to take off the necklace though.

"It all started when Ladybug first heard of her. Apparently, Lila had been using my partner's name to become popular at her school. Getting things like free handouts and such."

"Why… why didn't she say anything?" That was the one question that was burning Alya since Adrien had confirmed Lila was a liar. A lot of her lies involved famous figures including Ladybug! She ran the Ladyblog and was chosen to be Rena Rouge! Did… did none of that even matter?!

“Milady only found out about her after she was posted on the Ladyblog. It wouldn’t have looked good for a public figure to call out some schoolgirl and she also... probably worried about hurting the blog’s reputation so early on. Bug only confronted her physically when she lied about being some sort of descendant of a superhero for some reason. That’s when Lila was first akumatized and I… _properly_ met her.”

“That was… Volpina, wasn’t it?” There wasn’t much known about the vixen hero that turned out to be an akuma. She just knew that her friend Adrien had gotten himself wrapped into it, though he was rather vague with what happened. Alya knew that there was story-potential there but the model refused to budge an inch.

There was a pause as if Chat had stopped to nod before continuing but it helped Alya sort out her thoughts. “...Yes. After the fight, Milady apologized and offered to be proper friends with her, so she didn’t have to continue lying. Lila immediately blew her off, saying that they’d never be friends. Then she would turn around and claim just the opposite to her peers, it really… put us _both_ off to her.

“...Things only got worse from there. Lila was either an akuma herself or being chased after some, making it all the more difficult. Then… there were some _implications_ that Lila could be helping the former Hawkmoth.” Chat’s tone of voice was curt and Alya could only just imagine what expression he was giving.

“...Why do you say _that_?” She had to get to the bottom of this, know the whole truth before she made any kind of move. She owed Marinette that much.

“ _That man_ had slipped up in one of his interrogations. He had mentioned being helped out by one of the members of the affectionately called Akuma Class. Ladybug did some investigating… and figured out that it was either Lila or Cloe Bourgeois that helped him.”

“Wouldn’t have Cloe been more convincing though, since she caused so _many_ akumas?” She knew that she had been grasping at straws at that point. The mayor’s daughter might be horrible in her own right but even Alya knew she was just too obvious of a choice. _Everyone_ would have suspected her.

“If you looked at it at face value, yeah. However, it doesn’t make sense for Cloe to reveal herself as wielding a miraculous if she actively worked for Hawkmoth. He would have planted her as a spy in that case. No, I cannot help but believe that she really did want to be some sort of hero, even if it was for her _own_ sake rather than others.

“Then there is the simple fact that Lila Rossi had _everything_ to gain from helping Gabriel Agreste. She could become a model and get closer to his son and all she had to do was cause a bit of trouble… Also, being in the position he was, Mr. Agreste could _easily_ turn her lies into reality.”

“Then why… why has nothing been done about it? Should the news be all over this?!” Aiding and embedding a _known_ terrorist was _definitely_ illegal. Why wasn’t Rossi rotting in jail for her crimes or, better yet, sent on the first boat back to Italy?!

“It is one thing to suspect someone of a crime, it’s another thing entirely to prove it. No one wanted to touch the case as it would have been near _impossible_ to convince a court that Lila had willingly akutized herself. The evidence was circumstancal at best and, even worse, Ms. Rossi has a _talent_ for not incriminating herself. As far as I know, she had been questioned numerous times until the effort just became _fruitless_.”

“So that’s it then? Hawkmoth pays for his crimes while Lila walks free?! How is any of that even fair???”

“It’s not but that’s just the way it is. Ladybug did all she could by herself after Gabriel was defeated. The only thing left that she did… was reach out to one of the members of the akuma class, in a vain attempt to spread some awareness. It… didn’t end up well.”

‘ _Oh, Marinette...._ ’ Guilt once again ate at Alya, for her actions, purposeful and otherwise. The blunette clearly had felt alone if she had become akumatized for it. The brunette took off the necklace and put it back into its place, knowing what she had to do next. “...Thank you for the information,” she said as she placed the jewelry box on the ground within Chat’s reach.

“...See you around.” She heard him take off well before she left the alleyway, frowning deeply at herself. Silently, she walked over to the subway ticket dispenser, fumbling for the money in her pockets. It seems that in the end, she really _was_ the gullible one....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With chapter eight done, we are officially half-way done with this fic! So, the continuity of this story is cannon complaint to season 3 finale as I still wanted Rena Rogue to appear and for Marinette to still be acting guardian. This means that Master Fu likely passed on the duty to her after proper training before passing away at some point. Dunno if it'll be mentioned in the story proper though.
> 
> Also, I had to give Cloe a couple good moments story-wise as I don't actually hate her character. I do feel like she was gypped a proper redemption though.
> 
> Have a nice day/night!


	9. Verified Trust

Marinette was on the verge of tears. The day after the akuma attack with Bomb Squad, the entire class had gone quiet. There was no more teasing or jokes at her expense, the school rumors had all but died down, and Lila seemed conveniently distracted anytime she was around. This, in theory, should have made the heroine more calm, as it seemed that everyone had collectively moved on from her akumatization. Except, that wasn’t the case, her peers traded insults and glares for something far worse, isolation and what she could only perceive as... _fear._

‘... _Why won’t anyone look me in the eyes_?’ That was the only thing she could ask herself at that point. Her self confidence had plummeted and, try as he might, not even Adrien could get her out of this funk. All he could do was approach the others and ask what was up, only to get all of no answers. He would have done more if he hadn’t been called to yet another photoshoot that afternoon, leaving his partner feeling deflated and alone.

The blunette was just about to resign herself to her loneliness as the bell rang, signaling the end of the day. She quickly gathered her things and walked past Lila, who was far too busy chatting with Nino about some celebrity or other to make a move on her. In her rush, she had failed to notice most of her classmates all make subtle eye contact before watching her go. Marinette made it past the school courtyard before she heard someone call her name. “Dupain-Cheng.”

“What do you want, Chloe?” The half-asian girl stood right in front of the door that led outside of the school. It was a bad habit she formed, to freeze in place like that. Still, she couldn’t help it as she heard the mayor’s daughter walk over to her.

“Several shops nearby are having flash sales on clothing. I had planned to go with Sabrina but it seems she’s too busy planning something with her father.” Cloe said in deadpan as she stood behind Marinette, who had suddenly forgotten how to breathe properly. The blunette took a gulp of air before responding.

“What does this have to do with me exactly?” She spun on her heel to properly face the blonde. Surprisingly, it didn’t end with her tripping and falling flat on her face like she expected. This ounce of good luck did not bode well for the current foreseeable future, however.

“It means that you are going to accompany me, Dupain-Cheng.”

\---

About an hour later, Marinette was just about done helping Chloe shop. They had already been to multiple stores as Cloe practically raided the women section looking for articles of clothing. They had then gone to the fitting rooms where, without fail, the blonde would question her on how a certain outfit looked. After spouting off some trite agreement, Chloe gave a displeasing look. “If I wanted a yes-man Dupain-Cheng, I would have actually gone with Sabrina.”

“...C-come again?” Her classmate had just implied that Sabrina being busy wasn’t the reason she was more or less forced to be there. Needless to say, it threw her for several loops.

“Any fashion designer worth their salt in the industry has an eye for clothing. If you want to be anywhere near the level of my mother, then that is a skill you must pick up. I utterly refuse to believe someone wearing that outfit of yours aspires to dress the rich and famous.” Marinette gave her a pointed look at her own clothes being insulted. “So let me ask again, how does this outfit look on me?”

“The shirt is nice but that jacket doesn’t fit your frame. You need something that flairs a bit more out…” The blunette looked through the items that Chloe had already picked out, grabbing one. “This one should work, even the color pops more than the one your wearing.”

They continued on like that until Chloe had amassed a fashion show’s worth of outfit. Tired from dealing with her former bullying and carrying all the bags, Marinette was just glad that the blonde finally seemed satisfied with her haul. That is, until she turned towards the blunette. “Now it’s your turn, Dupain-Cheng.”

“...What?” The blonde then grabbed the free part of her arm and pulled her forward towards a store that was closer to her own taste. She could only stare dumbfounded as Chloe went through a rack of shirts, pulling one out before holding in front of the blunette as if to check how it looked on her. This repeated with the next display, and the one after, before her classmate shoo'd her over to the pant section to pick matching bottoms.

Then Cloe dragged her to the fitting rooms and shoved her into the stall with an outfit. Marinette slowly threw on the clothes, still trying to process what was happening. She opened the door when she finished and the blonde scoffed. “Ew no, definitely not your color. You need something more warm. Maybe red…”

The blonde went through the stack of clothing she grabbed to find what she was looking for. Marinette stared at her rather dumbly. “...Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what, Dupain-Cheng?” It was pointless of her to ask as Cloe knew very well already. She was just delaying the conversation as she sorted through the shirts.

“Hanging out with me. You can’t even stand to be near me in class, let alone go shopping with me. So let me ask again, why?” The blunette sighed exasperatedly, mirroring the words Chloe had said earlier.

“It’s just that you looked rather ugly today, Marinette. It’s like you didn’t even try to make your hair even and that complexion of yours- utterly horrible! Those dark eyebags don’t suit you at all!” Said girl was having whiplash at being insulted and also recognizing that this was the first time Chloe had called her by her first name. “Whenever I feel ugly, I simply shower, change into a new outfit, and then I look a million times better. You could stand to do the same thing.”

‘ _That is… actually good advice? From_ Chloe _of all people_?!’ Marinette was taken aback from the blonde’s response. If she just inserted a different word in what the other was saying, it was clear that she was only trying to be helpful.

“Now hurry up and try more clothing! We’re getting our hair and nails done after this.”

\---

An hour and a half goes by before the two are done at the shopping center. Chloe’s limo picks them up and Marinette was glad to not carry anymore bags. After she accepted the likely temporary reality of the blonde actually being nice to her, the blunette was able to relax for once. It seemed her classmate had been right, she did feel better, even if just a little.

The ride was a short one as the half-asian saw the bakery in sights. She expected to be dropped off right in front of it, only for the car to turn the other direction without warning, parking right in front of the park. The blunette frowned as her door was opened, revealing most of her classmates loitering around the center fountain. Confused, she exited the vehicle and gave a sigh of relief upon seeing Adrien, who sat a little away from the others and looked just as lost as she was.

“Hey Marinette,” he greeted her easily. His gaze, which had been locked onto the other students, met hers in an instant. The smile he gave her was bright as it had been before, as if nothing had changed. “That outfit looks really pretty- it suits you.”

“...H-hey, Adrien! Um, no thanks to- I mean thank you!” The blunette blushed in embarrassment. It seems she wasn’t quite over fumbling her words around the blond like she thought. “Do… do you know what this is all about?”

“No clue. I just got here myself.” He went back to looking at the others expectantly. The group seemed to be muttering to themselves, trading glances, before glancing at the pair. Finally, it was Alya who stood and made her way over.

The brunette looked nervous to say the least. Though, Marinette had some idea what she was about to do. Despite that though, she still tensed when her classmate stopped in front of her looking, sullen and guilt ridden. “I’m so sorry Marinette, you were right about Lila!”

Relief instantly flooded the blunette, making her tremble with emotion. Tears pricked at her eyes and it took everything she had not to start bawling right there. Alya didn’t take this as a good sign as she sheepishly stepped back, looking down. That’s when Marinette suddenly hugged her. “...I’m sorry too, for what I said to you.”

“....Girl, you’re not the one at fault here. You don’t have to apologize…” The brunette hugged back. Slowly but surely, each one of her classmates approached her for their own hug. It calmed the blunette down, though her eyes were still very puffy from tears. Then, everyone brought out a plethora of dishes and containers, and started their impromptu picnic. There was more they all had to talk about but they were just content to eat at that moment.

Marinette had her fill of chicken, pasta, and even baked goods from her bakery. She had terribly missed this, the sense of community and comradery that their class shared. For the next half hour, the class ate and talked about small, minor things. Soon though, it came time to address the elephant that wasn't in the room.

"About Lila, what tipped you off as a liar?" Alix was first to ask, curiosity getting the better of her. "You didn't like her from the beginning right? Something must have stood out to you…"

"...Yeah, I knew she was a liar from the moment I heard of her." Marinette looked down, thinking carefully of what to say next. "I don't like to talk about it openly but… I know Ladybug. She doesn't like mixing up her regular life with her superhero duties. So, for someone to declare to be her best friend that thoughtlessly, it set off immediate red flags."

"I'm sorry Marinette, I dismissed that early dislike of yours as jealousy…" It suddenly made sense that Marinette was able to score Alya an interview with her idol. She had known who Ladybug was from the start.

"It's fine. I might have been… a little jealous at first too. When I didn't play along with what she wanted, Lila then sought to get rid of me." Marinette thought back to the Italian's initial threat, the one that almost came. "Even though things got bad, I didn't want to leave. It would have meant she would have won."

"You had all right to go, though. That's what I would have done in that shitty situation," Alix remarked.

"True but I felt a little guilty I guess. I did bring some of it on myself…" The blunette sighed deeply. "I didn't exactly mean to outright accuse Lila like that. Ladybug had warned me that she might have a part to play… I freaked out and let it slip."

"This entire situation sucks…" Kim said angrily. "Can't Ladybug put in a tip with the cops or something?"

"She already did but nothing came of it." She had done anything she could do to get any investigation started. It was all in vain though.

There was a stumped sort of silence as no one was sure what to do. Adrien took the opportunity to speak. "... we'll just have to handle Lila ourselves."

"Bro… it's still been bugging me that you didn't exactly warn us about her." Nino in particular looked hurt at that.

"I know… it's just, this isn't the first time I have come across someone like her before." Adrien sighed guiltily. "There's a lot of Lila's in the fashion industry…" 

"What do you mean?"

"Whenever it comes to any field, especially those who thrive off of gossip and recognition, there'll always be people who would do anything to further their own careers." The model rubbed the nape of his neck. "Early on when I started modeling, I had an incident with one. I was taught what happens behind closed doors, stays that way."

"... Alright." It was clear that Adrien felt guilty enough. He definitely learned not to make the same mistake twice at least.

"That being said though, I do know how we can deal with her." The blond paused to collect his thoughts. "Lila thrives off of the limelight so even if we run her out of school, she could easily turn around and claim she had been bullied. It would only marr the reputation of the Dupont.

"The worst kind of attention we can give her is none at all. If she becomes invisible to the rest of us, then she'll lose any power she ever had. That way, at least, she can finally see where all that lying gets her." Thus, the group started to plan things out on how they would move forward.  
\---

Returning home that day, Marinette felt happier than she had in a long time. Even as she entered her home, gave a tired greeting to her parents, and gently set down the bags of clothes Cloe had bought for her, there was a gentle smile on her face. Sabine and Tom both rejoiced seeing their daughter in such a good mood that they weren’t too upset that she had come back late. They sent her upstairs after bidding her a good night.

Once inside her room though, the blunette immediately started sketching some ideas she had. Regretfully, she had let her designs fall to the wayside as she focused on her other responsibilities more. Tiki giggled beside her as she watched, happily nibbling on a cookie from her plate. The two stayed like that in silence until an alarm sounded from the designer’s cell. It was time to start patrol.

“Alright Tiki, spots on!” Ladybug jumped through her skylight and into the Parisian night, heading off to one of the meeting spots. Of course, Cat was already waiting by the time she got there, though that did not particularly matter. She hugged him fiercely upon seeing him and he gave her one of his signature bright smiles.

“... _Feline_ better, Bug?” Chat purred contentedly as she clung to him. The heroine might have hung onto him a bit longer than what was necessary but it was not like him to complain.

“...Yes, much.” With that, she pulled away and they headed off, walking around the city for the next couple of hours. While nothing of note actually happened, Marinette didn’t mind at all. She felt like a weight had finally lifted from her shoulders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can't say that I am completely satisfied with this chapter but oh well. I at least got Chloe's name right finally, hopefully I didn't miss an instance of 'Cloe'. Anyway, I'll have to come back to this chapter for more editing since I am posting this on my phone.
> 
> I did end up liking the impromptu shopping trip, it was fun to write.
> 
> Have a nice day/night!


	10. A Woman Scorned

The following monday, the plan was set in motion. Max and Alix arrived early in class, talking nonchalantly about video games. Rose, Juleka, and Mylene came together, chatting amongst themselves about Kitty Section and their upcoming gig. Ivan walked in next, falling into the conversion that his girlfriend was having. Adrien and Nino appeared roughly around the same time, the model ranting about some television show that he watched the night prior. That’s when Lila came in.

The first thing she did was look over the classroom like a hawk, as if planning the best way to assert herself in all the conversation. She then walked over to the group of four discussing their current plans and a placid smile on her face. To her, their poor excuse of a band would eventually sink with the ship that they practiced on, but it wasn’t like she couldn’t use what they already had to her advantage. “Hey guys, you know, I think I might be able to hook you up with a producer I know! I am sure he could help spread exposure with your band.”

The group stopped talking and just stared at her for a moment, causing Lila to a moment’s pause. Finally, it was Rose that spoke up, in a tone that was fairly neutral for her. “...That’s nice, Lila.”

Then they went back to talking, acting like she didn’t exist at all. The Italian tried to interject again. “I mean he is a pretty busy person but I’m sure he’ll make time for you guys if I asked him!”

That garnered all of no response from them as Ivan just continued with, “maybe Adrien can even join us for some sessions and stuff?”

“...I don’t know his schedule keeps him rather busy,” Mylene remarked in a worried tone.

“I think I might be able to squeeze in more time for band practice.” Adrien had apparently heard their conversation and piped up. Losing interest in where things were going, Lila headed off to the pair off to the side, the nerd and the wannabe skater chic.

“This next level is going to be kind of tricky- the player can only progress after finding a certain item and triggering the red flag for the next door to be open. The problem is that they will have to do several tasks before that can happen and I need to find a good balance so that it would be rewarding enough to them without coming as tedious or annoying.” Max was describing some convoluted section of a game that he was making, pretty boring but nothing she couldn’t work with.

“Maybe I could help? Remember that indie developer that made that smash hit a couple years back? I know him personally and I am sure he could give some tips for your game.” Lila smiled sweetly as the two went dead silent for a few seconds before Alix continued onward.

“I dunno why you’re telling me this, dude. I am not much for game making or gaming in general, don’t have the attention span for it.”

“That's the point though, I want you to test the section because of your limited attention span! It could give me good insight on people who might not otherwise pick up the game.” Max went on enthusiastically. “Think of it as gathering data and getting an idea on what to change.”

“...Okay, sure.” Then Max got up and left to his seat, leaving Alix to pull out a handheld game system from her backpack. She booted up a cartridge and booted up a title that Lila didn’t bother recognizing. She walked away feeling slightly unnerved.

The Italian lit up when her favorite sheep, Alya walked in and went over to Adrien and Nino. The brunette was about to greet her when the wannabe reporter took a page in the model’s book and walked past her with no response. She could only scowl as the bell rang at that moment and she was more or less forced to take her seat.

Of course, right before the late bell, little miss perfect literally stumbled right into class. Marinette still looked appropriately dishevelled and unsure of herself, causing some form of glee in the Italian. The blunette went to take her seat right next to Adrien in the back but Lila had not missed the subtle greeting Alya and Nino gave her as she made her way past.

\---

If she was having poor luck getting her peers to focus on her that morning, then lunch was by far worse. Lila had complained about her arthritis acting up but no one would give her so much as a worried glance. She knew that something was up and Maribrat was behind it, though she had lost her chance to confront her as the Asain girl had left campus to eat lunch at the bakery and the Italian was not about to drag herself over there for a thirty second warning.

The brunette grumbled as, for the first time since she started at Dupont, she was forced to get her own food and to eat alone as her classmates crowded around two tables in the cafeteria. They had purposely squeezed themselves together, leaving no room for Lila to fit in. Warning signs and red flags flared in her mind but she could still turn things in her favor. After barely touching her food, the Italian went straight for the guidance counselor for a nice, long chat.

It was fifteen minutes into their next period when that ball got rolling. The teacher called her aside as the rest of the class focused on individual study. “The guidance counselor mentioned that you were having a problem with bullying…?”

“Oh yes… I am afraid that someone spread a nast rumor about me a few weeks ago. Now the rest of the class won’t even talk to me! It’s absolutely terrible I tell you!!” Lila faked despair, a few crocodile tears slipping from her face. This caused the teacher to give a worried look and to comfort her.  
“...Don’t worry, I’ll talk to them to sort things out. If you want, you can take the class to study in the library.” With that Lila gathered her things, giving an expression of faked gratitude.

“...Thank you, Madame Bustier.”

\---

During the last half of class, Madame Bustier held an intervention of sorts, to see what was going on with her class. She had long suspected that Marinette was being bullied, it was hard not to see when one of her brightest students ended up friendless and alone. However, the situation was far more complicated than one student being in the wrong. There was a lot of he-said, she-said between her, Lila, and the rest of the kids.

It all started when the class president’s reputation plummeted. When she had openly accused Lila of working for Hawkmoth, the Italian broke down and the rest of the class shunned the blunette. The school board even almost suspended her for this, since her previous record didn't exactly look good either. The teacher had a sinking feeling that her pupil might have been targeted but she had no proof, and the principal pushed to side with Lila to avoid another Chloe fiasco.

Then Marinette’s akumatization occurred and Madame Bustier realized she had been right all along, when her student had interrupted a school meeting. She felt incredibly guilty for not looking further into things, not trusting her own instincts. The image of the young girl’s akumatized form approaching her with such sorrow and despair, was burned her brain. “ _...Why...why won’t anyone ever believe me anymore_ ,” she had said.

So, when the guidance counselor had swung by her class, explaining that Lila was being bullied, the teacher knew that there was more to it than just that. She set up a quick assignment on the fly, asking her students to write about their most and least favorite classmate to see where things stood.

The response to this quick paragraph essay was startling to say the least. Most students, barring Chloe who chose herself, picked Marinette as their favorite. Some wrote about the things she would do as class president, others wrote about shared guilt for what she had gone through. The girl herself wrote about Adrien and how she considered him her current best friend.

The entire class unanimously chose Lila as their least favorite. It was apparent from how they went on about her being a compulsive liar, that she was the source of the rumors surrounding Marinette the last few days, and that had also been threatening and bullying her since the beginning. Madame Bustier took these papers and brought them to the guidance counselor knowing that it wouldn’t be enough to sway the higher ups, but it did definitely show that further investigation was needed.

At the very least, she finally felt like she was actually doing her part as their teacher.

\---

During the rest of the day, students were called out to the guidance counselor, sighting questions on akuma-related business. Each of them gave their accounts on what was happening between Lila and Marinette. Their stories were all consistent with one another, a tale of Lila threatening and bullying Marinette before turning around and claiming to be the victim in all this. Initially, the board was to side with Lila since her mother was an important diplomat from Italy.

Then someone actually looked into Lila’s medical history. With no official diagnosis and mostly clean history, the principal ended up calling Madame Rossi for some questioning. It became apparent that the Italian girl was only claiming to be disabled to get special handouts at school. This being a rather serious crime, Lila Rossi was suspended from school until further notice.

In the end, justice had prevailed. A formal apology had been written to Marinette and her parents managed to pressure the school to make up for this transgression. Suddenly, she was given much more time to work on assignments and plenty of opportunity to make up for some of her past work that had been rather lacking. Her grades would shoot up to her normal average before this entire mess had started.

This all left Lila, being escorted by her rather disappointed mother home, mumbling something under her breath that Madame Bustier didn’t catch. She did, however, notice that she was clenching something in her shaking fist. The class let out a collective sigh of relief seeing her go.

For the rest of the day, Marinette was surrounded by her classmates as they celebrated the success of their plan, thanking their teacher for the job that she did.

\---

The final bell rung, signalling the end of school. Adrien gave Marinette his best, most convincing smile as he packed his bags, ready to go home for the day. He didn’t have any plans that day, other than doing the hefty homework assignment that they had been given that day. It meant that everyone else would be busy that afternoon so the model didn’t have an excuse to not go back to the mansion. 

The blonde refused to let this affect the current mood of celebration. He walked with his partner out of the classroom and lightly talked about small, meaningless things. It served as a great distraction for him as he ended up walking her home too.

“...Are you okay, Adrien?” She asked instead of walking inside the bakery. He blinked at her in confusion.  
“What do you mean?” He responded, the smile still plastered onto his face. It was quite obvious that she saw right through him with those pretty bluebell eyes.

“You just seem kinda tense…” The bluenette commented before slowly shaking her head. “...please, don’t feel the need to fake things around me, Cat. You know I don’t like that…”

“...I know, it’s nothing really. I’ll be fine by tomorrow.” He said as he gave her a reassuring hug. It helped him feel more at peace than it did her.

“Okay…” She said, sighing a little. “See you at school.”

“See you.” With that, she walked through the bakery doors, leaving Adrien alone until his bodyguard pulled up onto the side of the road. Taking in a breath, the blonde opened the car door and sat inside. The Gorilla grunted before driving off.

The model was lost in his thoughts the entire time. He snapped out of it when the vehicle stopped as they had arrived. Trying not to lose himself in his mind again, the blonde focused on the path ahead of him as he walked to his room. He did his best to ignore the giant painting on the stairwell that had yet to be taken down.

Once there, he forced himself to breath again. Plagg flew out of his pocket but didn’t immediately fly off to his cheese stash. The model ended up flopping onto his bed, head hurting too much to not give into the sudden urge to curl upon himself. He was still vaguely aware of his kwami floating beside him.

“...Kid, I am amazed you haven’t asked her out yet.” The cat said, landing onto his chest. “So why haven’t you?”

“I am waiting for the right time.” Adrien said, rubbing at his face in an anxious manner. “...Neither of us are ready for a relationship yet.”

“...That’s actually a really mature choice, kid.” Plagg purred as Adrien did what he could to gather his bearings. Soon enough, he’d be able to ask her out, when things finally settled down between them.

He could only hope that it wouldn’t take very long.

\---

Despite how things turned out, it didn’t last long for Marinette. That night, Hawkmoth had returned with another late-night akuma that lasted until the wee hours of the morning. She had been half-expecting it to have been Lila but, when the akumatized person turned out to be some jock that lost a late-night game, the blunette had been, if mildly, surprised. Still, it cut into both her’s and Adrien’s sleep schedules, which was one aspect of her superhero life that she hadn’t looked forward to returning. At all.

The next day had the bluentte run into class, late again, the model following quickly after her. Both were too tired and disgruntled to notice the strange looks their peers were giving them. There was silent speculation on why exactly both students came in with their hair messy and seemingly out of breath, but it was far too early to say anything yet. That didn’t mean, however, that wouldn’t be paying attention to see how things went. Truly, some things never changed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope Lila's take-down was satisfying enough. This chapter was almost going to be short until I added the Adrien segment. He hasn't forgotten about Marinette's crush but with what they both are dealing with, he doesn't want to push her into dating so soon.
> 
> I like to think it shows how much he has grown.
> 
> Anyway, have a nice day/night!


	11. Lightning Strikes Twice

For the next couple of days, everything was normal, if a tad quiet. Adrien still refused to leave her side and the rest of her class did what they could to interact with the blunette. Even Cloe had offered another shopping trip in the near future, leaving Marinette to feel loved and appreciated, if slightly overwhelmed. This unease continued to build up until it's breaking point.

Of course, she had to be the one to ruin this peace.

It all started one very early morning when the sun hadn't even risen yet. She woke up not to the sound of an akuma alert, but to her ringtone going off on her phone. The caller ID recognized Adrien's number for her. That didn't stop her from loudly groaning when she answered though.

"Good morning Bug, did you manage to sleep well?" His tone was casual despite the clear sounds of whipping wind and unintelligible screaming in the background.

"....nooooooo." The superhero childishly wined, laying in bed. "'ittoo early for dis," she slurred somewhat.

"Ah well, I didn't get much sleep either." There was an awkward few moments of pause before Adrien continued. "So, uh, are you coming or?"

"....fiiiiine." Marinette relented, noting disgruntledly that they weren't to the point where their old banter was back. She quickly got up, waking her kwami. "C'mon Tiki, kitty cat needs our help. Spots on!"

Although she started in a bit of a light-hearted mood, that was soon crushed by the fact that they had to recharge four times in the span of about three hours. By the time they were done, the sky was light with predawn.

"See you at school, Bug." Her partner waved goodbye to her after the magic ladybugs had done their job. There was once a time where he would stay after for as long as possible but that… well, that was a while ago.

That thought soured her mood more as she swung back home. She detransformed in her room and flopped onto her bed, Tiki settled in right next to her. Despite how tired she felt, sleep didn't immediately come to her.

Her brain wondered about different places. She thought about her current relationship with Adrien and the scary implications that they could arise should they actually get together. Then there was how she felt about the rest of the class and how much they were trying to make her feel comfortable. Last, her parents came to mind, as they did what they could to support her and get her the help she needed.

As she tried to desperately sort though her thoughts, the alarm on her phone rang. Groaning, she dragged herself out of bed and got changed. Mind still buzzing, Marinette made her way downstairs. She told her parents that she wanted to be early at school for once, so they packed her food to go. The blunette never ended up eating it though, as she wasn't hungry at all.

She really shouldn't have done that.

\---

Once she arrived at school, she gave a rather awkward greeting to Alya. Even though the brunette had already apologized for what happened, Marinette found it hard to get close to her again, at least not so soon after everything happened. It seemed the blogger had similar reservations as she stayed a reasonable distance away, seemingly too nervous to overstep boundaries.

Somehow, this didn't make things better for her. The tension between caused some underlying anxiety to form. Pushing the feeling aside, Marinette walked to her class and brought out her study materials.

She had all intentions to continue translating the ancient tongue of the Miraculous when her mind suddenly went blank. The blunette tried to focus on the written text before her but it was like her brain had tossed out everything relating to the language. Nothing she read made any sense to her it seemed, leaving her with a very empty page in her notebook.

A sudden hand on her shoulder snapped her out of her trance somewhat. She whipped her head towards the worried gaze of Adrien, who had seemingly materialized out of thin air. "Marinette, are you okay?"

Despite being right next to her, his voice seemed almost too quiet. It was a little hard for her to make out what he said. What… _what_ was going on?

Her lack of response caused the blond to frown. This caused the blunette to scramble for something to say something, just _anything_. "...y...yeah! Just tired I guess…"

He didn't look convinced at all. That's when she remembered that he was the current holder of the cat miraculous, and was keenly aware of her emotional state. Only the truth at this point would be a satisfying answer to him. The problem was, she wasn't sure whatever it was at that point in time.

This revelation did not make her feel any better, not in the slightest.

"I-" She was about to respond when the bell rang and class began. Apparently, the teacher and other students had been there this whole time too. It didn't look like anyone else was paying her much mind though, which sent a wave of relief crashing through her.

The rest of the students pulled out the book they were currently reading in class. Marinette looked down at her desk, noticing that Adrien had already placed his copy between the two of them. She found that she was at least able to focus long enough that she could follow along with the class.

She managed to get by up until the point that it was her turn to read aloud. Her partner had just finished the section he was given but the blunette had kept reading for a solid minute before he got her attention. The teacher had been staring at her with an equally concerned look.

"S...sorry Ms. Bustier, I got side-tracked!" She looked down at the book to find the spot where they had left off and began reading. “...’I gen-generally r-rested during the day, and tra-travelled only when I was sever- _secured_ by night from the view of man. One morning, h-however, pinding fy math- _finding my path_ lay through a deep word- _wood_... I ventured to continue my journey after the sun had risen; the day, which was one of the spring of first- _first of spring_ I mean, cheered even me by the loveli-ness of it’s s-sunshine… and the palminess- _balminess_ of… the a-air’*...”

The further she read, the harder it was to breath. Marinette was very aware that the entire class was now looking her way. This only proceeded to make her feel small and worthless, shaking in her seat. Why was this happening?! She hadn’t felt anything of this magnitude since-

...Oh. She hadn’t felt like this since she was caught crying on her balcony by Cat Noir. It finally hit her that she was having a panic attack. That’s when she realized that the teacher was saying something to her but she caught all of none of it. The bluentte let out some sort of strangled noise before she was able to push words out of her mouth. “...B….Bathroom, need to use the bathroom!”

She immediately fled from class, fresh tears leaking from her eyes. She didn’t even know when she had started to cry but she furiously tried wiping them away. Once she reached the bathroom, she headed into the first stall she could and broke down. She continued to cry and breath haphazardly until the world around her made sense again.

She barely noticed that Tiki had flown out of her purse and was pressing against her cheek.

\---

After an indeterminate amount of time, Marinette made her way out of the girl’s locker room, to find Adrien leaning against the wall across from her. He had this slightly sad, thoughtful look on his face, as if he were pondering why something had to be the way it was. It was something he did often when waiting for her just before patrol, solemnly think to himself about whatever was on his mind. She would only ever catch a glimpse of it before he heard her coming and smiled at her.

Likewise, the expression morphed on his face when he looked up, this time into a more pensive gaze. She was glad that he hadn’t plastered his model smile on, as it would have undoubtedly upset her that he felt the need to fake his feelings around her. The next moment, he spoke. “...Are you feeling any better?”

“...Yeah, a little.” The blunette was still anxious and even embarrassed about what happened. She had started having panic attacks post the defeat of Hawkmoth, when she could no longer use Ladybug to escape from her life. It didn't help that she didn't have her partner at her side during all of that, though she couldn't bring herself to blame Adrien. He had gone through a lot himself.

That's why, even at that moment, she was still keeping things from him. She hated doing it, knowing his distaste for being kept in the dark. So when he looked at her in such a way that begged for more information on her well-being, the only thing she could do was remain silent.

"...Ms. Bustier said you can go to the nurse to get a note home." He said after a few beats, awkwardly rubbing the nape of his neck. 

"...I don't want to go home again." Marinette gave that stubborn look of hers when there was no convincing her otherwise. Adrien could only give a solemn sigh, sensing the gap still between them and unsure what to do about it.

"Alright…" He relented and walked back to class. She went in and sat down, acting as if nothing happened at all.

\---

The bell rung for the start of lunch but not a single student budged from their seat. Marinette had planned to wait for the others to leave before sauntering off home to rest. She would have then debated whether or not to stay home before ultimately deciding to go back.

That plan was squandered as Adrien had one hand on her kneecap. He had kept it there all during class, rubbing soothing circles into her skin. It had her reeling with emotion as the gesture was _frustratingly_ considerate. Did this boy not know the effect he had on her?!

Oh right, he didn't.

The blunette was too distracted by her thoughts to notice that her partner had been paying far too much attention to his phone during class nor did she catch their teacher asking her students what was going on. She only heard Ivan speak up in response. “...Madame Bustier, is it okay if we eat in the class today? We all promise to not make a mess.”

"...okay, but only for today, alright?" Caline gave a small smile before walking out of the classroom. The other students collectively looked at each other before Nino and Alya stood from their seats.

"We'll be right back, guys." The couple said before heading off. Everyone else settled into their groups while Marinette remained seated. Adrien still had his hand on her leg.

This had definitely been planned.

The blunette wasn't particularly surprised nor was she upset at this notion. It was really sweet of her friends to try comforting her, though it still made her feel a little overwhelmed again. Kim and Ivan soon left as well as Rose starting a conversation going with those that were left.

"Last night's episode was soooo good! Edgar was trying so hard to propose to Allen but everything was getting in the way!" The blond was talking about a romantic comedy that she watched. "I felt so bad for him though, even if I was laughing through half of it."

"He should have just come out and said it, the wuss." Alix bitingly retorted, crossing her arms. Rose blinked at her. "...what?"

"I thought you didn't like teen dramas, Alix." The pinkette had shared her displeasure for such things everytime the show had been brought up.

"I don't. You just talked about this series so much that I had to check it out at least," Alix begrudgingly grumbled. "You've infected me, I hope you're happy."

"Of course I am!" Rose smiled cheerfully while the other students snickered around them.

"Speaking of infectious shows, how was the latest season of that anime, Adrien?" The pinkette turned towards the model. "What was it called- Superhero Academy right?"

"Oh, it was really good! It had an amazing first arc but kinda peatered around the middle. The last couple of episodes picked up the pace though!" The blond instantly lit up when talking about his current favorite show. "Though, they did leave it off in a weird place, not fully finishing the storyline from the manga. They instead focused on something that happens in the next chapter or so as season bait."

"...yeah, that's just odd." Alix concluded before turning over to Marinette. "How about you Marinette? Watch any fashion shows lately?"

The blunette blinked for a moment before remembering the passion she had been neglecting a bit. "...Not recently. Been kinda stuck in a design rut that just blew over…"

She stopped from elaborating as it was clear to everyone else why she had been lacking inspiration and motivation to pursue her dream. There was an awkward silence before Adrien attempted to break the ice. "C'mon guys, I can _a-sew_ you that Marinette's recent drawings have been amazing."

The entire class groaned at Adrien's idea of a joke.

"Oh _sock_ off guys, I can be funny." The model pouted, making a smile tug at her lips. "I didn't have everyone _pinned_ as pun haters…"

"...dude, just stop trying," someone groaned but Marinette was too busy snorting to notice who.

"...see, at least Marinette appreciates my sense of humor," the blond grumbled lightly.

"...oh, I would. If your timing was better." The words slipped out before the blunette could stop them. A thick silence rang out as the class collectively blinked at what she said. Adrien looked taken aback for a single moment, before he got one _those_ looks on his face. _Oh no…_

"So what you're saying is… I need to up my game then." The model gave that up-to-no-good smile he would give her in response to her usual witty retorts. She groaned out loud, smiling to herself a little.

"What I mean, Adrien, is that you would be a lot funnier if you could land the jokes properly." A well placed pun can work if done well after all. "Simple rocket science really…"

"Oh but Princess, that sounds like a challenge." The blond smirked as he encroached in her space but not overly so. Reflexively, she pushed his nose away.

"Take it however you want…" She gritted her teeth a little as she smiled, continuing to speak only loud enough for him to hear. " _...and I thought we agreed, no more nicknames at school_."

"But Princess, this is the name I chose to call _you_ after all~!" His response had her pause for a moment, clearly flustered. Her lack of answer had him switch tactics immediately. "Come on please, at least let me have this one?"

...Damn those cute, kitten eyes. They were going to be the death of her. "...Fine. _Just stop with the dumb kitty faces, they don't work_."

"Yes!" Adrien clenched his fist in victory before closing in again. " _Your relenting says otherwise, Princess_."

Drat… she held that victory for a long time. They were now even again. Well, at very least, this meant that their banter had returned.

Marinette wouldn't have it any other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thus begins some Adrienette fluff. The ending to this chapter was one I was looking forward to, resurrecting their banter! Still, there is quite a bit of angst left in this story, if Marinette's panic attack has anything to say about it. She might have been quick to forgive her classmates but that doesn't mean she is over what happened. It's not all sunshine and rainbows after all, even positive acts can and will overwhelm her at this point.
> 
> Look forward to next chapter as it has also been one I have been looking forward to just as much. Hehe.
> 
> With this story almost over, I have been thinking about what I shall write next. I have a couple ideas lined up but I can't decide which one I want to do more. Ah well, might ask on here sooner or later which ones you guys want to read first, if that's okay? It'll definitely give me some time to start if I am able to chose which to focus on.
> 
> Anyway, enough of my rambling, have a nice day/night everyone!
> 
> *Excerpt from the book Frankestein. I do not own.


	12. Hitting a Brick Wall

"...You will eat, Agreste." Marinette said with a pointed look to her partner. She had brought pastries from her parents bakery that morning, offering him a chocolate croissant.

"Okay…" Adrien could only give a sheepish green in response as he took the offered food after he had politely refused. He was far too tired to have an appetite but he should have known she wouldn’t let him get away without eating breakfast.

It all started from that day that she had resurrected their old banter. What began as the model being at her side to comfort her quickly turned into them being inseparable. More than once that week, the teacher had threatened to separate them if they didn't settle down. The rest of the class watched in amusement as the two quickly became best friends after everything that happened.

That particular morning had the pair come unusually early for both of them. They were seen walking into school holding bags of pastries and to-go coffee cups from the bakery the bluentte’s parents ran. It looked like they needed the caffeine as Marinette seemed like she was five seconds from stumbling over herself and it was not hard to see the layers of make-up that currently caked Adrien’s face. Upon getting to class, the Asian unpacked their respective food, frowning when the blonde didn’t immediately take his.

Now that he was eating, however, she smiled tiredly and ate. It had been another late night or rather, early morning akuma. The battle itself wasn’t that long but, by the time they were finished, it wouldn’t have been very long to start the day. The raven haired girl knew that if she even attempted sleep, she would definitely miss the first bell.

With his pastry eaten, the model rested his face on the palm of his hand, while his elbow supported him on the table. His eyelids were drooping as he was clearly struggling between the state of being half-aware and unconsciousness. Every few seconds, he would blink rapidly, in some vain attempt to stay awake. It wasn’t working.

“...You know, you’re going to get a stiff neck if you fall asleep like that.” Mari commented as she watched him in bemusement. There was about fifteen minutes before class was going to start, just enough time for a quick cat-nap.

“I’m too tired to really move or care,” he replied lackadaisically. Although he was barely cognizant, he still felt her eyes on him. His mind wondered briefly if she was checking him out but he quickly pushed the thought aside for now. There were better times to think of such things, preferably when he was more awake.

Meanwhile, Marinette was trapped in her own thoughts. She had been staring at the boy’s scalp for a little while, pondering something. Without realizing it, she had brought her hand closer to his hair, pausing for a moment when she finally noticed. _‘...Ah hell with it.’_

Her own curiosity got the better of her as her palm shot to his head before rubbing smooth circles into the soft strands. She felt him freeze under her fingertips and was about to pull back when she must have hit the right spot. Adrien suddenly jerked forward leaving Marinette grasping air.

_Thunk._

She cringed as he face-planted loudly onto his desk. The other students that had been there all stopped what they were doing as they turned to the duo. They gave a questioning gaze to the model, who was happily splayed over the table, smiling softly. “....hmm, yes,” he hummed.”

Awkwardly, the blunette returned to petting his hair. The blonde was definitely going to feel that one later. Everyone went back to what they had been doing as Marinette watched Adrien fall asleep peacefully. She was brought back to those moments, all those months ago, in which she would do the same to Chat when he dropped by her balcony on the odd night. It usually happened when something was troubling him.

‘ _Well, at least it worked_ ,’ the blunette thought idly. She would still have to apologize when he woke up but it was well worth it to see that content look on his face. ‘ _Now if only he could purr outside of costume…_ ’

She wasn’t entirely sure what brought on that thought.

\---

Adrien was far more awake during gym. The coach told the class to separate into teams, as Alix and Kim were chosen as captains. The male Asian managed to 'score' the model on his team, leaving the pinkette to choose from who was left.

"... Marinette." She decided at last. The blunette groaned when she realized this meant she had to face against Adrien. Said blonde smirked at his partner's reluctance.

"Oh come on Princess, don't tell me you're actually _scared_ to face off against me~!" He openly teased her. At first, their classmates were a tad surprised when he had first started play-fighting with her but by now, they were used to it.

"...not really, I just thought I would let you take the lead just this once. Oh well, maybe next time." The Asian stretched before joining the rest of her group. The two teams stood in position before the coach blew his whistle.

A flurry of red rubber balls were thrown at each side. Marinette used one as a shield to knock away what she could and evaded the projectiles she couldn't. She played defensively for a bit as she gadged what was happening around her.

Then she saw it, a clear opening. The blunette threw her ball quickly, hitting Max square in the chest. Before Kim could retaliate, she had already picked up another ball and used it to protect herself. Using her Ladybug instincts, the blunette began picking off the opposing side all the while her own teammates were knocked out around her.

Soon enough, it was just her and her partner left on the field. There was a five second stare down as the rest of the class watched in anticipation. A bet was already going between the team leaders and other students pitched in. Most said that Adrien had this one in the bag.

"Don't take it personally if I win, Princess," he said smugly. The blonde decided to make the first move. He picked up more than one ball at once and began chucking them at her in quick succession. She dodged each one nimbly until there were no more left on his side.

"Looks like you're out of ammo, KitKat." Marinette huffed as she caught her breath. She walked over and picked up a single ball. "Bet I could beat you with just this last one."

"...Not if I catch it first." Adrien braced himself with all the strength and confidence he had left. He could almost _taste_ the victory before him.

"You're forgetting one little detail though." The blunette smiled as she threw the ball at him with everything she had. He didn't bother responding as he reacted to the object coming towards him.

He was hit square in his chest. Despite bracing himself, Adrien felt himself fall backward. The ball slipped from his grasp as he fell to the ground with a heavy grunt.

"...I have a good throwing arm." She said as she went over to him, lending out her hand. A little dazed, the boy took it.

He, in fact, did forget.

\---

It was a study period for Adrien and Marinette and thus, they decided to spend that time in the library. The blunette had three projects in front of her as usual; a math assignment due the next day, the translation notes for the Miraculous, and the start of a commission sketch. She managed to switch between each task almost seamlessly, though she most likely would need to go over the math for errors. It was her worst subject, right after physics.

The model eyed what she was working on curiously. He hadn't said a word since they got there but she could already tell that he was practically itching with questions. Finally, he spoke up. "...so, looks like you are spending a lot of time translating that text."

"Yeah, I'm trying to get whatever information I can from this book but I practically have hit a dead end." She sighed, looking over text. "That's why… I am planning a trip to the temple after we graduate."

“Wait, you’re really going there? What about Paris, the akuma attacks-”

"I'll be taking the Miracle Box with me so I can use Kaalki to get back and forth." She had all this in advance, to the point where she had gone to Tibet and practiced using Voyage there and back again. "Also, I'll be transformed the entire time so you can call me whenever an akuma shows up."

"Wouldn't that exhaust you though?!" Between the physical training they likely would have her do and teleporting to the fights, there was no way it wouldn't absolutely kill her sleep schedule. Adrien gave her a worried frown.

"... I'll be fine, Adrien. Lack of sleep isn't something I'm not used to." Marinette tried to reassure him but he didn't look convinced.

"At least give me some of the Miraculous to hold onto in case I need to call for help." Her partner pleaded, making sure to give the cute cat eyes. "That way you won't have to fight much when you get here."

"...Alright, I am sure we can work something out." Marinette stretched when she finished one last problem. "Welp, I'm gunna nap until next period. Wake me when the bell rings."

The model nodded as he tried to get back to his own studying. It was hard to concentrate when his eyes kept wandering to the girl right in front of him. He still couldn't believe that the girl he had been crushing on was also his wonderful partner, let alone the fact that she liked him back.

Now that things had finally settled down between the two of them, he had already begun planning to ask her out. Ever the romantic, he was waiting for the right moment to strike, to tell her how he truly felt. Cat Noir might have always been clear about how he felt towards Ladybug, but Adrien never made it known that he had feelings for his fellow classmate, Marinette.

That was probably why she hadn't mentioned her feelings to him yet. In the past, he had been so enamored with his lady, that he failed to see this amazing girl creep into his heart too. Admittedly, he had been devastated when he realized how he felt about her when it was a little too late to do anything about it.

Things were different now- he actually had a chance to be with her and he wasn't about to lose that anytime soon.

With that thought in mind, the blonde looked down to his unfinished work with a sigh. He wouldn't be able to focus on much of anything until he confessed or, at the very least, he had a solid plan in mind. Looking at the time, he noticed that it was just about lunch hour.

Adrien was just about ready to wake Marinette up when the walls of the library shook and there was the distinct sound of a wall being blasted open. The blunette beside him groaned loudly. "...Oh _fuck off_ , Hawkmoth."

The model laughed as he gave an expression full of mirth. "C'mon Princess, we better get going. We might miss lunch at this rate."

"Couldn't an akuma have waited until after exam season at least?" She lifted her head in defiance, though showed no other signs of moving.

"I don't think Hawkmoth would have missed the opportunity." Adrien was already set to go. "Besides, if you don't get up now, I'll get there first."

With that, the model was out the door. He didn't miss the resounding " _hey!_ " as he left though.

\---

It was halfway into lunch hour when the akuma was defeated. It wasn't a particularly hard battle, aside from Chat Noir getting knocked out in the end to keep Ladybug from being hurt. The cure was cast and Marinette and Adrien were soon walking down the hall towards the cafeteria to at least get something to eat before class began again. The blunette didn't seem very pleased with her partner.

"Oh come on Princess, I had to take that last hit for you." The male pleaded as he followed behind her. "It might not have turned out well otherwise..."

The heroine suddenly turned around, pointed a pen at his throat. The model appropriately flinched from the pointed look she gave him. He raised his hands slightly in mock defense.

"The next time you do something _that_ dumb Agreste, I am _taking_ that staff of yours, writing _self-preservation_ on it, and I'm gunna _beat_ you with it." Marinette huffed as she turned back around and walked of. "Maybe _then_ you'll understand why I am upset with you."

Was… was it weird that he found her tone kinda hot?

\---

By the time they made it to the cafeteria, both soon realized that school had been cancelled for the rest of the day. They decided to eat at Marinette's bakery before Adrien was picked up by his bodyguard. It would have hardly be called a date since Mr. And Mrs. Dupain-Cheng kept fawning over them.

Not that Adrien really minded the attention. It was surely more than he got from his own father before he had been arrested. In fact, he considered them to be his own parents now that he was essentially an orphan. That didn't mean he didn't wish for some alone time with their daughter so he could confess his feelings.

That's when an idea struck him. He had the means to take her on a romantic dinner all this time! He turned to her as they left the bakery, smirk on his face.

"... what's that look for?" She said, narrowing her eyes a little. It was as if she suspected he was _up_ to something.

"... Nothing. Nothing at all." He managed to keep his tone fairly neutral, despite the bubbling excitement he felt inside. "I just thought you wouldn't mind a stray cat stopping by your balcony tonight."

She gave him a knowing smile and giggled. He would have to commit that sound to memory. "Not at all. Just so long as he doesn't neglect his duties first."

That was what had Marinette waiting on her balcony after her parents retired for bed. She had brought out her sketchbook and idly worked on some designs. It wouldn't be for another couple hours before Adrien came by.

She had already changed in comfortable but nice looking clothing. Her hair was out of its usual pigtails and into a bun. After fretting whether or not to wear makeup, she decided not to and just focus on other things while she waited.

The sketch she ended up with was a Cat Noir style jacket. It was mostly black with gray accents and a cat's face and ears on the hood. An image flashed in her mind, Adrien modelling the finished product, before she pushed the thought away.

Design finished, the blunette watched her kwami sleep in one of her potted plants nearby. It was one of her favorite spots to nap. That wasn't very surprising, Tiki was a ladybug after all.

With nothing else better to do, the teen turned to her phone for entertainment.. She browsed through Instagram, looking at posts and liking ones that related to fashion. Soon enough, she heard the telltale thunk of her partner’s boots as he landed on her chimney. Ever so gracefully, he landed on the roof of her balcony. “Good evening, Princess~!”

“Hello Cat Noir, you seem eager tonight.” His contagious smile had already spread to her. “So, what brings you here so late?”  
He hadn’t visited her balcony in quite some time. After the defeat of Hawkmoth, it’s one of the things her partner stopped doing. She figured that he might want to start again but she still felt the need to ask. “I have a surprise for you, Buginette.”

“Oh? And what would that be?” Marinette gave an amused expression at his dramatic bow and hand kiss. It was… nice to see his usual antics return.

“I’ll have to take you there.” He held out the palm of her hand with that stupid grin on his face. “...Do you trust me?”

“Of course I do, you just wanted to quote Aladdin.” Chat pouted for a moment before she took his hand and he carefully picked her up. Hanging onto him bridal style, her partner leapt away from the bakery and into the Parisian night.

They soared through the cool air but Marinette was positively warm from the rush of movement and the close proximity of the hero. She felt her cheeks burn as she couldn’t help staring at the soft features of his face as he snuck glances at her when he could. Suddenly, it was almost too hot, being in the arms of her crush as he gently carried her from rooftop to rooftop effortlessly. She knew it was the magic of the miraculous that helped but she couldn’t help the feeling of safety and trust being in his arms like that.

It wasn’t long before Chat brought her back to the abandoned roof that they frequented, this time in a much different assortment than before. The set-up this time was a distant memory from the past; a wine-red fleece blanket, rose petals littering the ground, and intriguingly placed candles lighting the area. The blunette gasped at the sight of it all. “Wow Chat, it’s beautiful! What’s the occasion?”

He had been about to compliment her before but he missed his chance. Right, she thought he had moved on by now. “...Well, we never properly celebrated the defeat of Hawkmoth, thought it was about time to do so.”

“...Are you sure?” She gave him a sad look and her nearly mirrored it before shaking his head. They were not going to get into troubling thoughts, not tonight.

“Of course.” He smiled again, leading her to sit down. He brought out a bottle of sparkling apple juice. Sure, they were of age to actually drink in France, but he particularly hated the taste of alcohol and what it did to people. He popped open the cork and poured the liquid into the accompanying glasses. “Here’s to that absolute bastard of a man, who might have terrorized Paris, but also brought us together.”

“Here’s to our partnership, may it continue to shine, as we take down this current threat.” Marinette held her glass to his. “Cheers.”

“Cheers.” He repeated and their glasses clinked together. After taking a sip, Chat pulled out the food he brought and they began eating dinner. The blunette slowly ate her food as she was more focused on the boy in front of her filling her stomach. It seemed that he felt very much the same as he barely touched his plate too.

Suddenly lost in the moment, the distance between them seemed too much. Chat slid next to her and leaned down until their breath intermingled. Her breath hitched and she was just about to close the gap between them, when blue and white flashed before her eyes. 

She immediately flinched away, the moment ruined. Marinette had let her own heart get the better of her again. The girl quickly took her feelings for Adrien and shoved them aside.

Meanwhile, Adrien was struggling with his own inner turmoil. Her reaction made him lose confidence in confessing. Maybe… maybe it was still just too soon.

That was fine… he could wait for her for as long as she needed.  
\---

Adrien Agreste was currently on cloud nine. He had thought he misheard her the other day during gym after he called him by a new nickname after their little battle. However, she used it _again_ during class that afternoon.

"Hold tight, KitKat, just going to the restroom." She said after asking permission from the teacher. He gave a stupid grin at that as she left her seat. Alya shot him a questioning look but he just shrugged unhelpfully.

After returning, she explained that she nicknamed him after an American candy bar. However, the model knew better than that. She had _deliberately_ picked a pun to call him by. It was her own way of subtly nodding to Cat Noir and Adrien couldn't have been happier.

He could hardly concentrate for the rest of the class. It didn't help that it was the last period of the day, so his mind would have likely been wandering anyway. His lovesick expression did not escape the notice of the rest of the class, who were all silently congratulating him and Marinette. It was nice to see that school’s lovebirds show affection openly when neither had made comment on the status of their relationship.

Of course when the bell rang, someone felt the need to ask where things stood. It had to have been Kim to do it. “So man, I got to know, how long has this been going on?”

Adrien slightly paled, his first thought going to his secret identity. “...W-what do you mean?”

“The entire class knows you have been sneaking off with Marinette.” This caught her attention too and suddenly, both exchanged a quick but alarming glance with one another. Both wondered if they had been found out. “Wow dude, you totally have been! Score!”

“I-it’s not what you think!” Marinette stammered, red-faced. She searched her mind for reasonable excuses that could explain away their disappearances that wouldn’t immediately give away their secrets. “A-adrien _knows_ how scared I get with Akuma attacks so he has been comforting me while we hide from them!”

They way she just made it sound didn’t convince anyone that nothing was going on. Alix gave a whistle at this, which startled the two stammering teens. “Didn’t know you had it in you, Agreste.”

“I-I… Didn’t know I had what in me?” The model blinked owlishly at her, not knowing exactly what she had implied. Ah, so he was still pure then, got it.

“Come on you two, no need to be so nervous about this,” Rose piped up in comfort. Her next words made them even more tense. “Everyone has known for quite a while in fact!”

“K...Known what exactly?” Marinette schooled her expression so that fear didn’t openly show on her face. She needed facts first before assuming the worst. “What are you guys talking about?!”

“That fact you two have been dating, of course!” Marinette’s stiff shoulders sagged. A mixture of relief but also slight mortification on her features. Adrien was calmer as well, though his face was still red. The blunette’s next words would send him spiraling again though.

“...We aren’t dating though.” Marinette said plainly, unaware how the blonde next to her had stilled. “We’re only just friends.”

Something shattered in Adrien’s mind. He was being rejected again- by the one girl he had cared about most. She must have caught his heartbreaking expression because guilt immediately washed over her face. “...I….I’m sorry. I should go.”

She ran out of the classroom, leaving him dumbfounded and crestfallen. This… didn’t make sense! He knew that she returned his feelings for him so why… why did she continue to _deny_ that there was nothing between them?! Moments later, he found himself running after her desperately, tears streaking down his face. He _needed_ answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one is kinda late, I really wanted to add a Marichat scene in this one! It's my favorite dynamic between the two of them but I recently realized most my story ideas are Adrienette based. The only kind of exception is one that is gunna come up either after this story or the one after.
> 
> Also, more against because, even when I write fluff, it gotta has some feels to it. Whoops.
> 
> Read and review. Have a nice day/night!


	13. Fear Itself

"Marinette, wait!" Adrien called after her as the Blunette ran down the hall. She was currently in tears, breathing heavily, but she kept running forward. "Please, I just want to know why!!"

She should have known she couldn't outrun him without her Ladybug reflexes though. Her foot hit a stray crack on the floor, causing her to stumble forward. At the speed she was going, the girl knew that she wouldn't get away without a bad bruise to her head. She gulped, preparing for impact when-

_Thump._

Ever the athlete, Adrien had skidded to the floor in front of her just in time. Marinette blushed horribly and scrambled off of him. Not wanting to seem even more rude than she already was, she helped him up.

"Please Marinette, I just want answers." Adrien pleaded to her. Suddenly aware of the audience they had gathered, the blunette wiped her face before nodding.

"...okay. Let's just go somewhere more quiet." The two left the school grounds and walked towards the bakery in silence. Marinette's room was the best place for such a discussion, since it was the closest area where they wouldn't be interrupted.

Once there, Marinette set down her things. Tiki and Plagg phased out of the room to give the two some space. Adrien looked at her apprehensively. "Mari… I know you have feelings for me."

She was quiet for a few moments. Opening her mouth a few times before she finally produced words. "...W-when did you…"

"...It happened when you were akumatized, you let it slip." If this had been a better moment, he would have joked about what she said. Now wasn't really the time though, so he didn't.

"...Oh," she responded simply. "This… it doesn't change anything. Not really."

"Why do you say that?" Adrien immediately questioned. "You know how I feel about you, Bug, _that_ hasn't changed."

"...I know how you feel about _Ladybug_ , Adrien. Not Marinette." He had a feeling that was what this was about.

"Marinette, I have always liked you, even before I found out who you were." He gave an audible sigh, collecting his thoughts. "...And yeah, okay, I _did_ push that away for the longest time because of my feelings for Ladybug. That doesn't mean they never existed."

Marinette was about to comment on his obvious preference when she realized she had been no better in that regard. It took her mind a long while to accept Adrien and Chat were one and same after all. Miles apart indeed…

"...I felt so torn because I realized that how I felt about both sides of you was the _same_." With her lack of response, Adrien continued on. "Which is great in retrospect but, for the longest time, I thought you were two different people. I couldn't… I _didn't_ want to hurt you."

Her mind immediately went to Multimouse in which she staged the fight to make it seem that way. Marinette bit her lip, searching for words. "....I honestly thought you moved on with Kagami."

"I shouldn't have gone out with her with how split I was to begin with." He was lucky that he was still friends with her after everything, though she had moved back to Japan with her mother.

"...I know the feeling. I tried to move on with Luka…" She thought to the blue haired musician that had already graduated and was touring Europe with Jagged Stone. "Though, we still ended on good terms despite…"

"...Having to lie about the missed dates and the flimsy excuses to get away?" He said with a knowing smile. He couldn't count the number of times an akuma attack got in the way, to the point Kagami accused him of cheating on her. "That wouldn't be a problem between _us_ though."

"Adrien, I still don't think there _should_ be an us." Marinette gave a pained expression, not looking the blonde in the eyes. "There's just too many consequences that could occur."

"...we already know our identities Mari, what other consequences _could_ there be??" He couldn't think of anything else that didn't also relate to who they were as heroes.

"...I… it has to do with Cat Blanc." Marinette relented, frowning. "I didn't tell you everything that happened back then."

He had already had a feeling that she had left some details out that night after they watched the sunset together. That evening had been burned in his memory since his Lady had gone from relieved calm to painful sobbing as she recounted a revised version of the events. It hit him that she hadn't been _afraid_ of Cat Blanc, but was sad _for_ him. The hurt he saw her go through, she had said, was the same that she saw in his eyes.

With a nervous trepidation, he nodded for her to go on.

“Cat Blanc… he called me by my name. He knew who I was even before _you_ did, Adrien.” That must have been the mistake Marinette made then, let his alter ego know who she was too soon, he realized. “I...I initially thought you had messed up. That maybe Adrien accidentally leaked my secret until everyone, including Cat Noir, knew. I believed that because that was the easy answer, the one that was the softest blow. However, there was another possibility that crossed my mind, but it hurt too much to even _think_ about.”

“...The very _real_ possibility of me being Cat Noir, right?” While it did sting to find out she didn't trust his civilian side at the time, he understood why at least. Call it a lesser evil.

"...I guess it hurt to think that you only would date me after finding out I was _Ladybug_ , stung that our love _could_ have done that to Paris, and how _painful_ it was that it was you, at the end of the world, _all alone_." Cat Noir had always hinted at being constantly alone in his life, but knowing the exact situation he was in was even worse. "Then there is the simple fact that I was wrong, I don't believe it was _my_ identity that had been jeopardized."

"...what do you mean?" He had a feeling where this was going and he didn’t like it. Still, he felt the need to ask anyway.

Marinette gave him a sympathetic look. “That final battle against your father… it was the hardest thing for you. I think if he knew who you were, he would have used that against you…”

“You… you really think he’d akumatize me if he..” It was an awful kind of pain, like being slapped by someone twice. He knew his father was an awful person but there was at least some kind of hope in him, that he had actually cared about his son. Thinking back to Gorizilla or how he had not once been akumatized, barring Cat Blanc, showed that. It seemed that particular credit to his character had been misplaced.

“...I wouldn’t put it past him.” Adrien sighed, nodding. He realized that he, too, could see Gabriel doing just that. It was a bitter pill to swallow.

"...Even that, though, doesn't fully explain why you think we shouldn't be together." The model said glumly. "There's still something you're not telling me…"

"...No, there isn't. That's all that happened." The fact that she couldn't look him in the eye was telling.

"Come on Bug, I want to know." He wasn't about to let this happen one go. There had to be something more that occurred, he knew it. The blunette sighed in defeat.

"...I didn't really want to say it but… Adrien, why do you think Bunnyx took me from the past to fix the future…?" Suddenly, Marinette's voice had gone cold and hollow. "Cat Blanc he… killed his Ladybug."

Adrien visibly paled at that. He had done that…? Was he… was he really capable of hurting his Lady like that?! It was bad enough that he had gone and gotten himself akumatized! He… he had thought that might have been the case in the first place but to have it confirmed was too much for him. His thoughts began spiriling through the self-hatred and guilt that he thought he had gone past.

A hand on his shoulder brought him back to reality. Marinette hugged him, stifling. “Don’t you dare blame yourself for something that never happened in the first place.”

“...B...but I…. it was my fault…” His voice was dry and cracked despite his wet face. “...I...I was the one w-who…”

“No buts Chat! It wasn’t your fault even! It had been an accident!!” His partner’s words were able to ground him back into reality. “I saw the scene for myself, it looked like you just lost control of your powers.”

“...O...oh.” He slowly calmed down in her embrace. It was a few minutes longer before the blunette spoke again.

"That's why I think we should remain friends… I don't want you to have to go through something like that again." Adrien gaped like a drowning fish trying to find words.

"That's… that's not fair!! You're… you're only speaking of a hypothetical…!!" With his father in jail, Cat Blanc could not happen again. He wouldn't let it.

"What if it happened to me though? What if you would have to fight an akumatized Ladybug?!" Marinette clung to him tightly. "...What if our love was just not _meant to be_?!"

"...That's just a worse case scenario and you know it…" Marinette just shook her head.

"I still don't think it's a good idea." In the end he couldn’t convince her otherwise, no matter how much he pleaded. Eventually, Marinette’s parents called them both down for dinner and Adrien left after they ate.

He couldn’t help but feel at a loss as to what to do next.

\---

After another scolding from his aunt for taking so long to come home, Adrien went up to his room silently. His kwami phased through his shirt as the model simply threw himself onto his bed fully clothed. “...what do I do Plagg? How do I convince Marinette that we can be together...?!”

“..Pigtails is just scared, kid. She’ll soon figure it out.” The being floated above him as the blonde was trying not to sob in his pillow.

“...I don’t even know fully what she is scared about. Cat Blanc can’t happen anymore…” He sighed heavily, frustrated.

“She’s scared of the uncertainty, kid. The power of the Miraculous might have brought you together but it can also tear you apart just as easily.” Plagg landed on his back, beginning to purr. “...Do you want to know why there has been such a strict policy on your identities being secret, even to each other? It’s not just because one of you might be kidnapped or have their mind read…”

“...What is it then?” He looked up from his pillow but didn’t turn around to face the godling.

“Hawkmoth or any villain really isn’t the only one that can abuse the power of the Miraculous. You two… are just as capable of misusing the wish as well.” Adrien turned his head to give him an incredulous expression. “Don’t give me that look, kid. Here’s a hypothetical for you. If you suddenly lost Marinette, don’t tell me you wouldn’t at least be tempted to bring her back.”

Adrien opened his mouth and then closed it. He grunted as he let his head fall back onto his pillow. “...I hate hypotheticals.”

“...Granted, there is a reason for the secret to be kept. It’s happened before, where one of the past users would die and the other would wish them back.” Plagg’s tail was whipping across his back. “I was never too much of a fan of the decision though…”

“...O...oh?” Adrien lifted his head again.

“The whole ‘ _your identities must be kept secret at all cost_ ’ is just the safe method to keep the world from being imbalanced. It doesn’t actually solve anything and it can do more harm than it does good.” His kwami got off his back and floated over to his face. “Remember how you almost gave up your ring during Siren?”

Adrien nodded for him to continue. “You’re not the only one of my kittens to share the same sentiment, kid. Most black cats are kept in the dark because of the unpredictable nature of the ring. That very measure has caused a lot of my chosen to either abandon their duties or go rogue. It just goes to show you that a display of distrust can cause the very thing they were trying to prevent in the first place.”

“...So what you’re saying is the very same distrust placed on the Cat Miraculous was also on our identities being revealed…?”

The kwami nodded at this. “I get even why Tiki is particularly strict on this notion. She doesn’t want to see anymore of her bugs suffer in that way again. That being said… it can cause just as much harm to you two, if not more.”

“....More than the world being imbalanced?” Adrien gave the cat being a questioning look, who just shook his head.

“Going back to that hypothetical, kid. If you lost Marinette even today, there is a chance you could _heal and move on_. That’s more than what most of our wielders ever got.” Adrien suddenly got a sinking feeling the reason why he didn’t talk about his other chosen was because of how they ended up. “Some learned after the fact while others never knew at all. It’s one thing to lose someone you care about, kid, it’s another thing _entirely_ to lose someone you thought you knew. There were always those lingering questions of _why_ and _what if_ that never went away.”

“...What should I do then? Marinette still doesn’t want us to be together…” He didn’t know where to begin to change her mind on the matter. When his Lady had something set in her thoughts, it would often stay like that…

“I need you to change your attitude, kid. You’re far too complacent for your own good- I bet you have already almost given up on this, huh?” Plagg gave him a knowing look. “Listen kid, I believe you two _can_ work it out. You just have to do it _together_. It won’t be any easy road for either of you but you have to fight for it.”

“...R...right! I’ll do that! I will fight for what we have together!” Adrien got his motivation back, a fire in his eyes.

“Then tell _her_ that, kid, geez.” Plagg stared at his chosen who had gotten off his bed to plan how he was going to convince his partner that they could work things out. ‘ _Don’t be like the bugs and cats that never got to know each other, Adrien. At least if you fail, you won’t leave any of that pesky regret behind..._ ’

\---

Marinette laid her bed, wide awake and thoughts buzzing in her mind. That day had been an emotional rollercoaster and she wasn’t sure how she would even get to sleep on time. Her kwami flew over to her and nestled in her hair. “...Do you think I made the right choice, Tiki? Of Adrien and I not being together…?”

“...You’re the Guardian, Marinette. Sometimes you have to make hard choices to keep the Miraculous safe.” The godling really did wish that things could be different. That her chosen would be able to find happiness without sacrifice. Life often didn’t work out that way...

The blue-haired girl sighed and turned over. If this was the right choice, why did it feel like the wrong one? She didn’t find satisfaction in Tiki's answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so late, been a busy week for me. I know that I still need to edit this and add the italics but it's also past 1 in the morning for me and I need to be up in seven hours at least. Oh well, hopefully next chapter is on time.
> 
> Read, review, and have a good day!


	14. Striking Iron

The following couple of weeks would become very busy for Marinette. Almost every waking hour had her mind set on something; whether it be final preparations for the upcoming dance, her duties as guardian of the miraculous, or saving Paris as Ladybug. She couldn’t even find herself relaxing during patrol with her partner, who she was very much aware had been wanting to talk to her all this time.

It all started when Adrien tried to approach her days after their disagreement. The blunette had been supervising the decoration of the school gym when he had come up to her, asking what she needed him to do. She had told him where he would work best but, before he left, he quickly let something quietly slip. “I haven’t given up Princess, you should know that.”

His words caused the Asian to glance back at him as he walked away. Had there been time, she might actually have given him an answer. It left her feeling quite troubled, though she expected for her Kitty to not give up so easily. That was one of the things she had admired most about him, that he had far more determination and drive when it came to such things.

It was her anxiety and her constant need to analyze the situation at hand that often led to her to second guess herself. As much as she wanted to be with Adrien, it was her own fear that stopped her. She would try to rationalize it to herself, that Cat Blanc had happened for a reason. If anything, it had been a sign of her own failure, watching that stone statue of herself crumble at the touch.

She had let Paris down, by letting it be destroyed like it was. That all her friends and family were likely killed in the blast. Finally, she had failed to save even her own partner.

The worst part was that she couldn't even learn from her mistake. Whatever occured to cause the events that led to her partner getting akumatized remained a mystery to her. Theoretically, she could use the rabbit miraculous to see what had occured, but the possible negative repercussions of using the watch for selfish reasons kept her from doing so. Cat Blanc might not ever happen again but something like it could.

She was so focused on the ' _what ifs_ ' that she didn't stop and think about what she could be missing out on.

So she stubbornly continued on with the other tasks at hand, unsure what to really do otherwise. Days passed as Adrien would continue to try approaching her but some distraction would always drag her attention away. It didn't keep her from feeling insanely guilty but he always backed off and gave her space.

Then came the evening of their joint patrol. She was going to do it, listen to what he had to say. Groggily, she made it to their meeting point. The past few nights, she had to stay up to almost the wee hours of the morning and it was beginning to wear on her.

Adrien took one look at her when he arrived and said, "go home Bug, get some rest."

"You've b'n wantin' to talk tho," she replied intelligently. The cold breeze didn't make her feel less tired.

"I need you to actually be cognizant, Milady." He chuckled and gave one of his cute, endearing smiles. "C'mon, I'll take you home."

Ever so gently, he picked her up and took off towards her home. Marinette gave a small smile as she relaxed in his arms. The journey was quiet as she nodded off to sleep, long before he placed her in bed.

For that brief moment, her fear had been gone.

\---

Adrien sighed as he entered his room and detransformed. He had been trying for two weeks to talk to Marinette but, of course, his own luck was against him. The day after their little spat, his partner had become entangled in a bunch of last minute preparations for the dance. It didn’t help that some of her plans had fallen through, causing the blunette to focus intently on getting things fixed before the big night.

Rubbing his hand through his hair, the male flopped onto bed. Plagg nestled in beside him, not saying a word for once, letting his charge think to himself instead. The boy shifted on his bed covers. "...Plagg? What do you think happened during Cat Blanc?"

"I dunno, kid. I may be a god but I am not all-knowing." Adrien frowned a little, not sure what to think. "If I could hazard a guess though, you probably found out her identity."

"...Oh? What makes you say that?" Adrien looked at his kwami.

"Remember that beret that Spots 'delivered' for you? I am pretty sure she’s the one that actually made it.” He thought back to that particular hat and it made more sense than what Ladybug had said at the time. “You prolly put two and two together from that and started dating her.”

“Makes sense I guess. Though, I just don’t see how that would lead to my akumatization.” Going out the girl he loved shouldn’t have been the catalyst that caused it right? There was no way that something like that could be wrong…

Plagg just shrugged unhelpfully. “You might have done something dumb, like keep the fact you knew who she was from her.”

“No, I-” The blonde was about to protest but he stopped suddenly. _Would_ he have done that? Dating her as Adrien, the boy he knew she liked, instead of revealing that he was Cat Noir? Then there was the fact that Ladybug had always been so strict with identities… “Yeah… I probably _would_ have done something like that.”

“Well, now at least you know what not to do, kid.” Plagg snuggled up to him as they both fell asleep. “I’m still sure you two can work things out.”

\---

It was raining. She could feel the cold raindrops run down her face, mixing with her own salty tears. Muffling a sob with the palm of her hand, she looked down the dark, empty stairwell that led to a subway terminal. A million thoughts were racing through her head all at once. The boy she loved but was forced to break up with, how she might not ever get to see that sunshine bright smile of his, that she already was missing his presence in her life. It was all too much for her in that moment, her emotions welling and flowing out of the bottle she kept them in.

Holding the umbrella he gave her, she was lost in her inner turmoil that she hadn’t heard the deaded beat of a butterfly’s wings nor the pounding of converse shoes on wet pavement. That was, not until the voice of her now ex rang out from behind her. “ _ **Marinette, move**_!!!”

She turned around to see Adrien running from the Agreste family gates, chasing an akuma. In her highly volatile state, she could only freeze in place. She had to move fast soon or she would be under the spell of Hawkmoth. Her partner would then have to face her akumatized self alone and Paris would be without a Ladybug to fix the damage. Despite all that, however, her legs refused to budge.

“ _Plagg, claws out_!” She gasped as the boy in front of her turned out to be her best friend and partner, Cat Noir. It really shouldn’t have surprised her as it did but maybe the shock of seeing his transformation right before her eyes caught her off guard? The blonde jumped when he was close enough. " _ **Cataclysm!**_ "

" _Adrien_!" She exclaimed, still apparently shocked at what he did. He let the remnants of the bug from his hand.

" _You were about to be akumatized. I didn't have a choice, Milady_." He gave her that endearing smile of his again.

" _Milady? But how did you know?! I thought our identities were supposed to remain a secret_!" Marinette dropped the umbrella she was holding as she collapsed into his arms.

" _Everything will be okay, I promise_." It was those words that woke the blunette up. She surmised that she had been dreaming but it all felt so real. The only time she had lucid dreams was when the events of past akuma attacks came back to her when she slept. It was strange it occured for something that never really happened in the first place.

Whatever it was got her thinking though. Perhaps it wasn't only on her that led to the events of Cat Blanc. Maybe Adrien had some part to play after all. If she could recognize the mistakes he made, then he would do the same for her. They could keep each other in check. It was possible… that they could work out after all.

Still, she wasn't entirely sure.

\---

“ _It’s over, Hawkmoth. Give up your Miraculous_!” His lady screamed over the wailing wind around them. They were currently on top of the Eiffel Tower, having faced against one of the hardest akuma that he had unleashed before confronting the man himself on the landmark. It was a fitting place for the final confrontation, much like it was on Heroes Day a couple years back.

“ _I am not about to give up just yet, Ladybug_.” The man stood before them was stoic as he ever was, the only tell of his nerves being the way he held his weapon. If he had not been wearing gloves, Chat imagined his hand being stark white from the grip alone. “ _If you give up now, then I won’t do any harm to my hostage_.”

“... _Hostage? What hostage_.” His partner grit her teeth, trying to call out the supervillain’s bluff. He had made no mention of one before so it was likely just a farce. Hawkmoth simply pulled up the very top of his cane, revealing a screen. It turned on, revealing a young blond male struggling against his bounds. “... _A...Adrien_ …!!”

“ _I know you are quite fond of this boy, Ladybug. Give up your Miraculous and I can assure his safety_.” Cat Noir glared at his enemy for using this dirty trick a second time. To his dismay, and perhaps even gratification, the heroine was already reaching for her earrings. It made his heart warm that she cared so much about his civilian self.

“ _Don’t do it, Milady! It’s likely another illusion created from one of his akumas_!” Volpina might have been a while ago but Lila was still in Paris after all. Even if she did claim to be visiting the minister of the UN just the other day, he hardly bought that she had left France at all in the time she had moved to the city.

Hawkmoth simply gestured to the destruction around them with nary another villain in sight. “ _As you can very well see, you have defeated all my akumas. What more do I have left but this_?”

“ _Then it’s just a sentimonster created by Mayura_!” That Ladybug she had created even fooled him so he was sure she was capable of doing the same for himself. “ _He’s got nothing left to use on us, he’s just bluffing to get what he wants_!”

“... _How can you be so certain of that? Would you really want the blood of such an_ innocent _child on your hands_?” In anger, Cat Noir threw his staff at the villain, to which he deflected.

“ _You don’t get to talk about the blood of innocent children, Hawkmoth_!!” Adrien was beyond pissed at this point. “ _Besides, I know that Adrien’s safe and sound_!”

Hawkmoth glared at him before starting to attack them both. Ladybug was less torn with fighting him due to his earlier reassurance. There was still a question lingering on the duo’s mind that his partner voiced. “ _Why… why are you even doing this, Hawkmoth? What’s even the point_?!”

“ _You’re too young to understand_!” The older man fought back with all his might using his cane sword. “ _You don’t know the extent a man would go for the one that he loves_!!”

It must have been an act of desperation for him to finally reveal what he was after. It would have been so much easier if he sought immortality or if he was simply just power hungry. Then it would have been easier to just hate him at that moment and continue fighting. They wouldn’t have hesitated then.

“ _You have not experienced what it is like to truly lose someone you care about so deeply. So deeply in fact, that you would move mountains and demolish buildings if only for them_!” Chat gave a quick glance to his Lady as he tried to fend off Hawkmoth gaining the upper hand. The villain began to focus on him. “ _And you! Do not even_ dare _claim to know the security of my own son_!”

Several things happened at once. Hawkmoth’s attack hit Chat right in the chest, causing him to be sent into an iron column. Ladybug gasped but he couldn’t tell if it had been from the villain’s words or the fact that he knocked her partner away like that. It then hit him what the man had said.

“.... _ **You**_ ,” Chat spat out, glaring at him. He could feel the hatred and bile rising in his chest. “ _It’s been_ **you** _this entire time_?!”

“...G...Gabriel Agreste.” Ladybug gave a forlorn look at their adversary. “ _...I feel sorry for your son, that he has such a father like you_.”

“ _As I said before, you do not understand_.” Gabriel gave a hardened look. “ _I am doing this for him, for our family_.”

Enraged even further, Chat Noir straight up tackled the fashion designer. “ _Does he even matter to you?! You claim that you're doing it for him but you don’t even consider how_ he _feels! How do you think he would react finding out his father is Hawkmoth_?!”

“ _...He would understand_.” Adrien’s furry blinded him as he began mindlessly attacking the villain. Nooroo’s powers were great for getting other people to fight for him, but Hawkmoth clearly lacked the combat skills that the two had trained for, since the day he had started this in the first place. Ladybug had to pull him away from his father as he had ripped the Moth Brooch right off his chest. Gabriel Agreste lay, defeated and unconscious right in front of him.

“ _...No, he would never understand_ ,” was the last thing he said before bolting the scene.  
Adrien woke in a cold sweat, screaming. He could feel bile at the back of his throat as he gagged and choked on nothing. It had been awhile since he had that particular nightmare but it had come back recently. He wondered, if briefly, what his alternate self went through when he was akumatized. Was it… any similar to what he had experienced?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, got this chapter finally done. Sorry this was late, I ended up cutting the last part of the chapter to bring you guys that final confrontation scene that has been mentioned in the story before. I hope I was able to do it some justice!
> 
> So, final crunch time. This story it almost over so I have to choose the next one that's gunna be written. The options are:
> 
> "Before There Was Cat Blanc" which will be my expansion on the episode. I figured there was so much crammed into twenty minutes that i could make twenty chapters out of it. I currently have an outline for around that. Oh, and i am not skimping out on that ending, so expect some cute fluff before tragedy.
> 
> Then there is "Miraculous Together" which will be probably the lightest story I will ever right. It's a romance comedy based on the fact that the show itself likes to cast Adrien as Cat Noir. I just brought it to it's third, logical extreme: acting as himself in a romance drama. Meanwhile, a certain designer has scored a part-time job on set fixing costumes. Identity shenanigans ensue.
> 
> Which one would you prefer to see first? Anyway, have a nice day/night!


	15. For Better or for Worse

Marinette didn’t get anymore sleep that night. Her thoughts were too jumbled to get anymore rest and she also didn’t want to have another nightmare. So, in the early predawn hours of the morning, the blunette tended to the flowers of her balcony. She would have gone downstairs to the bakery to find something else to do, if she didn’t already know her parents were down there, starting the day. They would have immediately known something was wrong and pried her for answers, which she couldn’t give. As much as she wanted to open up to them about this, it was too close to her secret identity.

So she just watered her plants with a spray bottle, in an attempt to take her mind off of things. It wasn’t working though, as thoughts of her partner permeated the forefront of her mind with no sign of stopping anytime soon. She had been so preoccupied that she hadn’t noticed a certain black kwami fly up to her until he spoke. “Good, you're awake.”

"Waaah!!" Marinette tripped and nearly fell onto the balcony railing. It was her Ladybug reflexes that saved her. "Plagg, what're you doing here?!"

"...I came here to give you my two cents." The godling gave her a displeased look much like a cat would do when disturbed. “I am rather awfully _sick_ of the current system we have going on here.”

“...And that would be _what_ exactly?” She hadn’t meant to sound rude. Maybe it was the stress, pressure, or her general tiredness getting the better of her. Marinette shook her head and tried again. “Sorry, I mean, what are you not happy about?”

“The whole ‘ _your identities must be kept at all cost_ ’ was dumb to begin with. It actively _keeps_ you from your fullest potential as heroes _and_ as partners.” The kwami grimaced before shaking off the expression.

“...Okay, go on.” She wasn’t used to talks with Plagg. He seemed a lot more straight-forward and forthcoming than Tiki was. She always got the sense that her kwami was careful in what she chose to talk about.

“Pigtails, you ever wonder _why_ you two were chosen so close together? Like, Master Fu could’ve chosen any two random people but the pair he picked just _happened_ to be friends?”

“...Yeah, I do wonder about that from time to time.” Marinette sighed, thinking about her old master. “I just thought it was a coincidence though…”

“It wasn’t an accident, Pigtails. You two were chosen _because_ of your compatibility with one another, not just with your respective miraculous. The Ladybug earrings and Cat Ring might be opposites but they are meant to _complement_ each other. Master Fu could have chosen two perfect strangers but that risks the partnership not working out. The whole identity crisis was created because humans are prone to doing _stupid_ things for the ones they care about.”

“I get that but what makes you so upset about it?” Humans were flawed and made mistakes, so a system had to be made so things didn’t go out of balance. Tiki had basically drilled that into her head since she became the new guardian of the miraculous and needed to learn the history of it.

Plagg sighed heavily. “...Marientte, let me tell you a story about one of my chosen. He was a bright kid, very loving and kind-hearted. He adored his partner and had an absolute passion for his work as a hero. Honestly? If things had worked out, Adrien would’ve had competition for being the best Cat Noir.”

Marinette frowned at this. “...What happened to him?”

“...His Ladybug died. She sacrificed her own life so he could continue living. Hearing how he was, you can imagine just how devastated that made him.” The bluenette nodded her answer at him. “So, then he went and did something even _more_ dumb. He used the wish to not only bring his partner back, but everyone he ever cared about too.”

“...Oh.” A feeling of dread welled in her chest, as if she knew where this was going. “..S..so the cost of it was…”

“...He _ceased_ to exist entirely.” The grief in Plagg’s voice could almost be felt. He looked at the ground below them forlornly, as if caught in his train of thought. “You want to know what happened when his partner was chosen to be Ladybug again? There was quite the change in her. Before, she was kind and chipper, rivaling my lost kitten in her sincerity. After he was gone though, there was a lingering sadness about her that never went away.”

“...Did she actually _remember_ her partner?” Marinette found that strange. If her counterpart had essentially been written out of existence, how could she have? It just wasn’t possible…

“No… not entirely. She realized that _something_ was missing in her life, but she could never name it. Magic isn’t perfect, least of all against a miraculous user, so there were just some things that _couldn’t_ be erased.” The blunette thought back to her dream last night, wondering if it might have been something else entirely.

“So that’s it then? That’s where it all ends? One gone forever and the other never knowing why?” She found it more foreboding than anything. She didn’t… she would never want that to happen to Adrien.

“Part of me wishes that I told her what happened, about her former partner and how he was gone. Maybe then she could have understood why she felt what she did and maybe… even find closure in that.” She could see the clear signs of regret in his small features. “Marinette, you are in a different position than she was. You don’t have to end up like her or her partner for that matter.”

“...But...but doesn’t this give us another reason to be more careful…!” She knew that she was just grasping at straws at this point. “..We… we could end up just like past users…”

“...You can also work out too, you know. You two have the potential to be the strongest Ladybug and Cat Noir history has ever known. Not just because of the love that exists between the two of you, but the effort that you would put into it. When both Miraculous are well and _truly_ together, there is no force that could stop the two of you. I know it.”

“...Do… do you really think it could work like that…?” Marinette wanted to hope that could happen. She did. Then something held her back- her own fear, her lack of self worth, it was always something. She could come up with several different excuses and reasons to not try and let things stay as there were. Then it struck her what she had been doing all this time.

It wasn’t the fear of an unknown future that held her back. It was just her and her own damaged view of herself that did. Perhaps.. she didn’t want Adrien to see how far down the chips and cracks went. That she couldn’t bear him to see the broken, frail thing that was Marinette Dupain Cheng. “...What about the rules though…?! The ones that Master Fu had set…!!”

“You’re the guardian now, you make the rules.” He gave her a look that announced the obvious.

“...But… But I….!” She was finally struggling to come up with anything else.

“...All that you can do is try, that is all I am asking.” Plagg sighed, looking directly in her eyes. “Just give him a chance, okay?”

\---

Adrien was growing concerned. Since the day they met, Plagg had always been a glutton. If he was gorging himself through the Camembert stashed in the mini fridge in his room, then he was complaining about not having enough to eat. He even made cheese _analogies_ , he loved the stuff so much. So when his kwami began to poke and prod his morning slice, the blond might have thought the end of the world had come.

That necessarily didn't help with the godling's apparent mood as he refused to talk about what was wrong. He just phased through Adrien's shirt pocket, leaving his breakfast half eaten behind him. The model rewrapped the slice and tucked it in next to Plagg, hoping that he finished it along the way to school.

The car ride there was as silent as it had ever been. As much as he appreciated the Gorilla for always being there for him, he wasn't much of a talker. During some of his better days, Adrien would just talk to fill the empty void, and his bodyguard would sometimes nod along, as if following the conversation. Then there was the rare occasion that Plagg would poke his head out and join in. That was- well, it hadn't happened in a long time.

It took all of two minutes for the blonde to realize that they should have been at the school already. He looked at the car window and saw sights he wasn't used to seeing from this position. Working through the map in his head, it struck him that the Gorilla wasn't going the _wrong_ direction, but he was definitely taking the scenic route. He also was going slower than normal too. Then Adrien felt the tell-tale ruffle of his overshirt that meant Plagg had changed position.

For one long moment, the boy said nothing. Then he broke out of whatever daze held him and began to talk, slowly but surely. He rambled about the small, meaningless things in life. Video games, that one anime that was his current obsession, the book he read in class, and anything he could think of to get his mind off the more pressing issues in his head. It clearly worked as the blonde had begun to smile- his actual one, not the flimsy, self-imposed fake that graced his features whenever he modelled.

When he exited the car, Adrien felt a bit better. He was still worried about his Kwami, but Plagg's effort to at least listen to his chosen mindlessly ramble was enough to show him that the godling wasn't upset with the blonde. He would still need to ask again what the matter was, but he wasn't as nervous to do so.

He gave his usual greeting to Alya and Nino. Things weren't entirely patched up between them yet but the three of them had started hanging out again. Marinette had been invited every time but she had been turning them down for one reason or another. Of course, they all understood and couldn't blame her for being hesitant still, even before she became so busy.

Soon enough, the bell would ring so the trio walked to class together. They were shocked to see Marinette already there, sitting at her desk with an assignment in front of her. An idea flashing in his mind, Adrien gave a quick smirk before walking up to her and sitting down. She already had already looked up to give a greeting when-

""-- _Adrien_!!" Said boy had flopped himself over part of her work like the cat he was. The blunette sighed and rolled her eyes playfully. "... you're not moving anytime soon, are you?"

"Nope." He purposely popped the p in his response. She gave a small smile and brought her hand to his hair, rubbing it gently. He relaxed after the initial shock of her doing this, as he hadn't expected it from her. His partner had stopped giving their extra displays of attention since their talk of Cat Blanc.

Needless to say, it did wonders for his mood. He was able to finally get the nightmare from last night completely out of his head as he practically melted into her touch. Everything ceased to exist around them as Marinette petted and patted his scalp. His cat tendencies had only gotten worse the past couple of weeks due to the lack of attention that he got. She must have sensed this, as she made extra sure to get the good spots.

Then the bell finally rang and the spell on them was broken. Adrien sat right back up and Marinette pulled out her work for that class. The teacher walked into the room and the lesson began.

The day dragged on for the two. The blonde had noticed a sudden change in blunette's mood. She was biting her lower lip all throughout the lecture, and he doubted it was from concentration. It looked like her mind was preoccupied with something else entirely. Was there another issue with the dance or… maybe it was one of her duties as guardian plaguing her mind? 

That's when Marinette snuck a glance at him and he instantly knew what she was thinking about. She still wanted to have that talk with him, the same one he had been wanting to have with her since getting advice from Plagg. He had been rehearsing what he wanted to say to her all this time. It gave him hope that maybe he might actually convince her about giving him a chance.

Then lunch had finally come. Adrien lagged behind in the classroom, telling his friends to go on ahead of him. Once he was left alone, the blonde lifted his shirt. "Come on out Plagg, we need to talk."

His Kwami floated out of his pocket and unceremoniously plopped himself on his desk. The tiny creature still seemed to be in his rut from that morning. "...Don't you still have to chat with Pigtails?"

"Well yes, but you're more important right now." Adrien frowned as he looked at the godling. "Please Plagg, I need to know what's wrong."

The being didn't even need to be facing his chosen to know that there was a pleading look on his face. Plagg sighed heavily. "...I just... don't like thinking about my past users all that much."

“...Oh.” It seems that he wasn’t the only one that had been caught up in the past. “I know you don’t talk about them because of how they ended up but… have you really been able to let it all out before?”

“...Not really, no.” There weren't many people that he could talk to about this stuff. “I’d talk to the other kwamis except it’s a little awkward speaking about some user that might have… well, caused their own chosen harm. Sugarcube listens to me most of the time but, well…”

“How about this- if you ever need to let something out of your system, you can talk with me? I mean, you already do that for me so….” He was grateful to have Plagg in his life so he wanted to be able to be there for him too.

“...Thanks, kid.” Plagg seemed a little a bit better himself. He flew up and grabbed the piece of cheese still in his pocket. “Now go on and talk to your girlfriend.”

Adrien nodded and went to leave the classroom. Plagg had eaten the rest of his food before flying into his pocket. The model hadn’t walked very far out the door when he stopped. It seemed that Marinette had been in the hall just outside the entire time. She looked up a little shyly at him, as she always did.

“...Come on, let’s have that talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, this chapter was only just sort of late! I managed to at least upload it on the regular day! Anyway, looks like I shall be writing Miraculous Together next and then Before There Was Cat Blanc. Next chapter is going to the be the last but there will be a bit of a gap before I upload the next story. I will be taking a small break before writing the starting chapters of MT, mostly binging a couple shows in preparation! If anyone has any suggestion for any good teen dramas that I can watch, that would be very much appreciated!
> 
> Alright, until next time- have a good day/night!


	16. To Make a Bright Future

Life could be a bit frantic at the Dupain-Cheng bakery. Tom and Sabine might try to create a comfortable atmosphere for guests, it was a business after all, and even said to be one of the best in Paris for their field. That meant the building saw plenty of rush hours through the day, as tourists and residents alike gathered to get a delicious pastry from the coveted place. This, however, was not the reason for the current frantic nature of the building.

Marinette was currently tearing through her closet to find the perfect outfit for the dance. A reasonable part of her brain recognized that Adrien would probably like whatever she wore so long as it fit. However, the less logical side practically screamed that was the point, Adrien _would like anything she wore_. That meant truly impressing him would be harder to do. If she wanted to blow his mind that night, she needed the right outfit to do so.

Which led to her current predicament. Since her design slump, she hadn't made any new clothing. Hell, she had even decided against creating a dress for this dance even before that. Then there was the fact that she hadn't gone through her closet in at least a few months. She realized that she had grown slightly in that time so most of what she had in there didn't fit as well as they should. It severely limited her options…

Sorting out all the outfits that were too small or weren't formal enough, left Marinette with the clothes she bought with Chloe when they went shopping. The blunette had only bought a single dress that day but, while it looked fine enough on her, it wasn't particularly stunning either. She would need help if she was going to accompany her date to the dance that night.

She had to consider her options. Chloe had been strangely helpful to her after her akumatization- the clothes she bought with her were proof of that. However… that didn't mean that she was entirely comfortable with asking her for such a favor. It also didn't help that she didn't have her number to call her anyway. She supposed she could have asked Adrien but… she really didn't want him to know of her current crisis.

That left one other person that came to mind. Someone who had been there for her before, who would help her in similar situations. Even though she had been her former best friend, neither had really reached out for each other since then. Perhaps, it was time to change that.

Taking out her phone, the blunette dialed her number, knowing she might lose courage seeing her contact info. The phone rang three times before she heard the tell-tale click of her classmate picking up on the other end. There was an almost unbearable silence between them before the Asian spoke. "...Hey Alya, I need a favor."

Things were still going to be awkward around them but this was a step in the right direction.

\---

Adrien Agreste had been standing in front of his bathroom mirror for the past twenty minutes at least. He had already spent a solid hour in the shower, scrubbing away any dirt and impurities on his skin. Currently, he was styling his hair, fretting slightly that he couldn't get it in the right place. Ever the model he was, he was a tad vain and cared about his looks.

Some days, he wished he didn't have to care so much about his appearance. According to Nino, most guys just didn't take that long to get ready for things. The DJ said that it typically took him fifteen minutes to get dressed, maybe twenty if it was for a special function. The blonde had tried to do that once, on one of his darker days, and it took a simple glance in the mirror for him to spot all the imperfections.

The anxiety he felt that day, however, didn't hold a candle to what he felt right then. Marinette had finally said yes to giving him a chance! He might not have been able to explain his reasonings to her, there wasn't enough time for that, but he managed to ask her to the dance!

"... _I'm sorry that I have been pushing you away again. It's just… my own fear and anxiety gets the better of me sometimes_." Her words from the previous day rung in his mind. He would have to show her that there was nothing she had to fear. That he would be there for her every step of the way, no matter what!

That resolve helped him settle his own nerves as he managed to get his bangs in the right place. He exited the bathroom feeling like a new person having a fresh start. With a skip in his step, he merrily walked out of his room. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Plagg sigh at his show of dramatics, before quickly flying into his jacket packet.

Without much thought, he walked down the steps and into the foyer. He paused in front of the door though, when something struck him. Swiftly, he turned around to make sure he was right. That awful painting had been taken down, that giant one with him and his father. The same picture that he would try to avoid looking at as he came back to the mansion everyday but it always managed to catch his eye.

For the first time in a long time, Adrien felt like he was able to breath again.

\---

“Girl, don’t sweat it, I’m sure we can find something to knock Adrien’s socks off.” After going to her place to find nothing Marinette could wear, the pair decided to head to a nearby outlet to buy something new. Between the two of them, they managed to find enough money for something good. There was still a little bit of awkwardness between them but the need to accomplish a goal was far stronger.

Upon arriving at the store, they immediately went to the dress section. The bluenette was rather petite in size so she immediately went for the smaller sizes, combing through them for something interesting. She managed to pick out a couple that caught her eye before going to the next rack.

A heavy silence fell between them. In the past, the two would have chatted almost endlessly among themselves about different projects they were working on. It was something she sorely missed having with the brunette. 

The banter she had with Adrien was mostly jokes along with their shared interest in shows, but it was never too much about fashion or design. He might still be a model but he also enjoyed being a normal kid and he also lacked a creative mind. The most he could give were compliments on her work, with maybe a small tip here or there. It was never any hard criticism of her work.

Alya, with her fierce mind and firm opinions, used to give her just that. Much like how one couldn't have a conversation with themself, ideas needed to be shared to be able to flourish. Ever since getting back into her craft, Marinette hadn't been able to scratch that creative itch in particular.

"So…" The blunette started rather lamely. She knew that she needed this but that didn't make the first couple of steps any less awkward. "I heard something is going on between Ladybug and Cat Noir…"

She wasn't too terribly surprised that the public eye had caught onto the fact that her and Adrien were going through a rough patch. The duo had been more in sync than they had ever been, up until a couple weeks prior in which they crashed and burned. They might not have actually lost a fight in that time, but they were taking noticeably longer to defeat an akuma.

"Yeah… a lot of people say they are fighting or something but get this! Cat Noir was seen _totally_ carrying Ladybug after they patrolled the other night! I think it was maybe a lover's quarrel! My second main ship might just be happening!!"

"... Hopefully." In the end, that is what she wanted. For things to work out between her and her partner. She just had to trust that it _could_ happen and if not, make it so. "Any other news lately that happened?"

"Well, people are speculating as to who the new Hawkmoth is…" The conversation continued on after that, about superheroes and the resurgence of the Ladyblog. It only stopped when Marinette had found the dress she was looking for.

\---

To say that Adrien was getting nervous, was an understatement. He stood near the entrance of the gymnasium, eyeing the crowd to see if his lady was there. The blonde had thought she would come early since she was the event organizer but there was no sign of her in the actual room though, which made Adrien feel more than a little tense. He knew that his partner would never stand him up like that but he wondered what was taking her so long to arrive.

He might have been a little too distracted because he didn’t notice the double doors open behind him, nor did he hear the click-clack of heels approach until a hand touched his back. He turned around to see who it was when time seemed to momentarily stop. His date had somehow managed to take his breath away.

_Hot damn_.

Marinette stood there in a sparkly, asymmetrical dress with black cardigan and matching black heels. The skirt fell in waves at her side, which nicely accented the sway of her hips. Finally, her hair was done in a loose, french braid.

Adrien stared dumbly at her for a solid minute before he spoke. "...Wow Marinette, you look beautiful."

"...Thanks, Adrien," she responded rather shyly. "You look rather handsome, yourself."

The two blushed at each other awkwardly before the music changed and Adrien regained some semblance of confidence. He bowed and held his hand out towards her. "May I have this dance, Princess."

The blunette playfully rolled her eyes. "You hadn't need to ask, KitKat."

The blonde nearly chortled at her false, haughty tone. He kept his composure as he brought her to the dance floor. Carefully wrapping his arms around her waist, the two slowly swayed to the beat of the music.

They stayed like that for a while, dancing in their own little world. Nothing else existed except each other, as they stared at one another, absorbing what they saw. It was as if both were collectively committing this scene to memory, to never forget this moment that they shared.

Then the music changed again and they were forced to adjust their positions. As the song continued on, Adrien led the way, dancing further from the crowd without making it too obvious. Only then did he speak. "There's something I have meaning to tell you, Bug."

Marinette couldn't even find it in herself to scold him for using the wrong nickname at the wrong time. She only just simply nodded. "What is it…?"

"...I know that you're still scared of something bad happening but… I think we should at least try to make things work between us." He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. "Now that I know it's you, I don't think I would be able to let go, Bug. If we _never_ got together, I know that there wouldn't be a day I'd stop asking myself ' _what if_ '. It would be a regret that would never leave me."

"...I…" The Asian started to quickly, causing her to hault and gather her words. "...I know, because I feel the same, It's just… maybe I was too afraid for my own good. So scared that I… _couldn't_ see all the effort you were putting in already. I'm sorry."

"...It's okay, Princess." Adrien held her tight. "Now that we are on the same page, let's start again. I am ready to fight for what we have. At the very least, let me prove that to you."

Marinette smiled at him as their faces drew close. Reality once again warped to only them as the blunette felt her pulse race. Not quickly enough, the distance melted between them and their mouths met. It was a light, airy affair as their lips brushed up against each other softly.

The world felt right at that very moment and nothing, not even Hawkmoth, could ruin that for them.

\---

"Adrien, honey, could you grab this bag for me?" Sabine called for the model, who had just picked up a box from inside his girlfriend's desk. It held her diary in it.

"Of course, Mrs. Cheng." The blonde went up to pick up a duffel that was packed with what seemed to be two weeks worth of clothing. He knew that Marinette had already packed a rolling suitcase that could _easily_ last her a month but he supposed she couldn't be too careful. She could probably tear a few outfits while training.

"You can just call me Sabine, sweetie." She smiled at him softly, laying a hand on his arm. He still flinched a little from the unfamiliar contact. "I want my future son-in-law to feel comfortable around me."

"...I...I…" It was something he still had to get used to, Marinette's parents being more openly affectionate. It was something he hadn't received in a long time. They were even patient with him when he needed to step back and have some space. "... Alright."

He grabbed the bag from the older woman and took it downstairs to the living room. Marinette was down there with her father, eating pastries and having fun. Adrien smiled warmly as she cheekily stole a macron from Tom's gasp. He laughed, not looking disappointed at all at his daughter's antics.

The older man finally gave noticed to him watching them like an awkward duckling. He smiled and pulled the boy over, grabbing both the box and bag from him in one swift motion. "Come now Adrien, sit down and relax with Mari. I'll finish putting everything in the car."

"...o...okay." He knew better at this point than to argue. Sitting down, his girlfriend gave him a cookie. He nibbled on it lightly. "You know, Princess, Paris is going to miss you."

"Not as much as you will, I imagine, KitKat." She gave a small smile, enjoying her goodbye treats.

"You're right about that." They began to chat idly about unimportant things as Tom prepared the car and Sabine came down from the attic. The older woman hugged her daughter lovingly, still slightly worried for her. It may not have been the first time she had travelled but it was different doing it alone.

Soon enough, it was time to head to the car and drive to the airport. It was a small delivery van with the Tom and Sabine logo on it. The vehicle was a little stuffy and maybe a little cramped but Adrien didn’t particularly mind.

Once there, they met up with their former classmates that were able to come. Alya hugged Marinette as soon as she saw her. “I can’t believe you’re actually doing this, girl. Travelling the world before you go onto university!”

Marinette couldn’t exactly divulge that she was headed to the miraculous temple to her friends and family. Not only would Alya never forgive her, it was just too close to her identity as Ladybug. It was decided that while she trained, she would visit specific landmarks and send pictures as well.

“...I thought I could use the experience to deepen my understanding of things.” Inspiration for good art came from many places, so if she was going to be an excellent designer, travelling places would only help. At least, that was the reasoning she used.

The blunette hugged each of her friends, and gave them each a goodbye. They were already in front of the flight gate that they needed to be in front of, which was also going to be boarding soon. The last people she hugged were her parents, and Adrien of course. He clung to her as if she would vanish at any moment.

“....I’ll be transformed every night so you can at least text me through your yo-yo,” he whispered to her. Since she was going to be gone for so long, Chat Noir would be taking solo patrols. He promised to stop every odd day so as to not tire himself out.

“I’ll have to plan my training breaks around that then.” She would still have to figure things out with the time difference but nothing was going to stop her talking with her kitty.

“...I’ll miss you, love-bug.” He said before kissing her forehead lightly.

“I’ll miss you too.” She blushed softly before realizing what he called her. “Also… _Love-bug_ ? _Another_ nickname??”

“...I can’t help it sometimes.” The blonde smiled sheepishly. “There’s not a single word that perfectly describes you, Milady.”

There he went with those cheesy lines of his. Marinette playfully rolled her eyes before flicking his nose. “So long as you keep them straight in your head, I don’t mind.”

They could have stayed like that forever when the announcement for the flight Marinette was supposed to be on had a boarding soon reminder. The two broke apart and the blunette walked over to the line that would get her through to the other side. She waved at her friends along the way. “Bye guys, see you soon!”

“Goodbye Marinette, safe travels!” Her friends and family called back to her. It was the last thing she heard until she was drowned by a sea of people heading the same direction she was. She was finally ready to start a new chapter in her life, to set forth and accomplish her dreams.

The path ahead was still unknown but Marinette felt like she could at least find her way.

.

. .

. . .

End.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Gosh, finally finished this. Sorry it took so long to get done. I finished the chapter on Monday but I thought you guys would appreciate a drawing if I managed to format it correctly. We shall see. It's my own art, not terribly good but I tried.
> 
> Anyway, I have started on the outline for Miraculous Together, which will likely have 15 chapters. It might end up having a sequel somewhere down the line as well. I'll start posting it after I have a few chapters done as I kinda suck at getting things done on time if they weren't prepared beforehand.
> 
> Thank you all who have commented and left kudos for this fic! While I am still not entirely happy with it, I still have some editing to do, I am glad it is complete. I also appreciate the criticism that i have received and I hope to improve my writing from here on out.
> 
> In any case, have a good day/night y'all. Thanks for sticking around.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first Miraculous Ladybug fic. I just got into the show last year, around August or so. That gave my brain plenty of time to think up story ideas. I shall try my best to write what I can.
> 
> Comments and critique are welcome!
> 
> Have a nice day/night!!


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